Movies
TV Shows
People

Buzz Kulik

Known For
Directing

Known Credits
0

Gender
Male

Birthday
July 23, 1922 (103 years old)

Place of Birth
Kearny, New Jersey, USA

Buzz Kulik

Biography

Seymour "Buzz" Kulik (July 23, 1922 – January 13, 1999) was an American film director and producer. He directed 72 films and television shows, including the landmark CBS television network anthology series Playhouse 90 and several episodes of The Twilight Zone. Kulik went on to direct made-for-TV movies, such as Brian's Song.

After leaving the army as a first lieutenant after World War II, Kulik went to work in the mail room at J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency in New York. He eventually saw a notice at work that they were looking for people to direct programs for a new medium called television, and Kulik responded. A lifelong baseball fan, he started directing the cameras at Yankee Stadium before starting a career directing live television programming such as Playhouse 90 and Lux Video Theater. He moved to Los Angeles in 1953 and eventually began directing some of the landmark series of the 1950s and 1960s including Perry Mason, Gunsmoke, Have Gun Will Travel, Wagon Train, Rawhide, Dr. Kildare and The Defenders (for which he directed the pilot episode). He directed a dozen episodes of Twilight Zone, which brought him lasting fame and recognition among the legion of fans who religiously watch the Twilight Zone marathons that continue to air on holidays to this day.

Kulik also began directing feature films in the 1960s including Explosive Generation with William Shatner, Warning Shot with David Jansen, Villa Rides with Robert Mitchum, Yul Brynner, and Charles Bronson, and Riot with Gene Hackman and Jim Brown. He directed the first television mini-series, Vanished, with Richard Widmark and James Farentino. In 1971, he directed what many critics and fans feel is the greatest television film ever made, Brian's Song, for which he received "Best Director" honors from the Directors Guild of America. For several years in a row the lead actors in the films he directed won "Best Actor" of the year including Peter Ustinov for A Storm in Summer, James Caan for Brian's Song, Alan Alda for Kill Me if You Can, Susan Clark for Babe, and Anthony Hopkins for The Lindbergh Kidnapping. Some of the prominent long-form mini series he directed were From Here to Eternity with Natalie Wood and William Devane, Around the World in 80 Days with Pierce Brosnin and Peter Ustinov, and Kane and Abel with Peter Strauss.

In the 1970s and 1980s he also directed feature films including To Find a Man, Shamus with Burt Reynolds, and The Hunter with Steve McQueen.

Over the course of a career that lasted more than 40 years, Buzz Kulik established himself, and is remembered today, as one of the greatest television directors of all time.

Known For

Directing

1990Lucky Chances...Director
1989Around the World in 80 Days...Director
1988Too Young The Hero...Director
1987Her Secret Life...Director
1986Women of Valor...Director
1985Kane & Abel...Director
1984George Washington...Director
1983Rage of Angels...Director
1980The Hunter...Director
1979From Here to Eternity...Director
1978Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women...Director
1977Kill Me If You Can...Director
1977Corey: For the People...Director
1977Babe...Director
1977Never Con a Killer...Director
1977The Feather And Father Gang...Director
1976The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case...Director
1975Matt Helm...Director
1975Cage Without a Key...Director
1974Bad Ronald...Director
1974Give Me Liberty...Director
1974Remember When...Director
1973Pioneer Woman...Director
1973Portrait: A Man Whose Name Was John...Director
1973Shamus...Director
1973Incident on a Dark Street...Director
1972The Man Who Came to Dinner...Director
1972Crawlspace...Director
1972To Find a Man...Director
1971Brian's Song...Director
1971Vanished...Director
1970A Storm in Summer...Director
1969Riot...Director
1968Villa Rides...Director
1968Sergeant Ryker...Director
1967Warning Shot...Director
1964Ready for the People...Director
1964Kentucky Jones...Director
1963Kraft Suspense Theatre...Director
1963Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre...Director
1963The Great Adventure...Director
1963The Richard Boone Show...Director
1963The Lieutenant...Director
1963The Yellow Canary...Director
1962Saints and Sinners...Director
1961The Explosive Generation...Director
1961Dr. Kildare...Director
1961The Dick Powell Show...Director
1961Cain's Hundred...Director
1961The Defenders...Director
1959The Twilight Zone...Director
1959The Killers of Mussolini...Director
1959Rawhide...Director
1958Pursuit...Director
1958Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse...Director
1958Naked City...Director
1957Collector’s Item...Director
1957Perry Mason...Director
1957Have Gun, Will Travel...Director
1956No Right to Kill...Director
1955Gunsmoke...Director
1954Climax!...Director
1951Hallmark Hall of Fame...Director
1950Lux Video Theatre...Director
1948Studio One...Director

Creator

1989Around the World in 80 Days...Creator

Production

1987Her Secret Life...Producer
1986Women of Valor...Producer
1985Kane & Abel...Supervising Producer
1984George Washington...Producer
1984George Washington...Associate Producer
1979From Here to Eternity...Producer
1978Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women...Producer
1977Corey: For the People...Executive Producer
1977Never Con a Killer...Producer
1975Matt Helm...Producer
1975Cage Without a Key...Producer
1967Warning Shot...Producer
1964Kentucky Jones...Producer

Writing

1984George Washington...Writer

Crew

1981The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper...Additional Writing

Acting