Boris Sagal

Early life and career

Born in Yekaterinoslav, Ukrainian SSR (now known as Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine), Sagal immigrated to the United States, where he attended the Yale School of Drama. Sagal's TV credits include directing episodes of The Twilight Zone, T.H.E. Cat, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Night Gallery, Columbo: Candidate for Crime, Peter Gunn, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. He also directed the 1972 television adaptation of Percy MacKaye's play The Scarecrow, for PBS. He was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards for his direction of the miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man and, posthumously, Masada.

Sagal directed the 1971 cult classic science fiction film The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston in the lead role, and The Dream Makers.

There is a directing fellowship in his name at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts.

Shortly before his death, Sagal's miniseries Masada aired on ABC.

Personal life

Sagal was Jewish. He is the father of Katey, Joey, David, Jean and Liz with his first wife, Sara Zwilling, who died in 1975. Like Boris, Sara was also a producer and writer for television as was reportedly the first female assistant TV director. Norman Lear, who was a friend of Boris and was also made godfather to Katey, introduced Boris and Sara when Sara was his script supervisor while he wrote for The Martin and Lewis Show, as both Katey and Norman acknowledged in 2016. His second wife was Marge Champion, to whom he was married from January 1, 1977 until his death.

Death

Sagal was killed in an accident during production of the miniseries World War III, when he was partially decapitated after walking into the tail rotor blades of a helicopter in the parking lot of the Timberline Lodge in Oregon. An investigation revealed that he turned the wrong way when exiting the helicopter. He died five hours later in a Portland hospital.

He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills).