Marc Daniels (January 27, 1912 – April 23, 1989), born Danny Marcus, was an American television director. He directed on programs such as I Love Lucy, Gunsmoke, Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, Hogan's Heroes, and more.
Life and career
Daniels was a graduate of the University of Michigan. Following his service in the U.S. Army during World War II, which continued until 1946,[1] Daniels was hired by CBS to direct its inaugural dramatic anthology program, “Ford Theater”, where he mastered the art of live television direction. He was hired to direct the first 38 episodes of I Love Lucy,[2] an early filmed series. Daniels recommended Vivian Vance for the role of Ethel Mertz.[3] Daniels, along with his wife, Emily Daniels,[4] and cinematographer Karl Freund, has been credited with introducing the three-camera technique of filming as opposed to the conventional one-camera. In a 1977 interview, Daniels noted that he left I Love Lucy to take another job that paid more. "Maybe it was a stupid thing to do," he said. "But then we didn't know we were creating history. We were just doing a show".[2]
Daniels died of congestive heart failure on April 23, 1989, in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 77. He is buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord, Mass.
References
^LibreOffice For Starters, First Edition, Flexible Minds, Manchester, 2002, p. 18