Who was Elliot Silverstein? American Film Director Dead at 96

Elliot Silverstein, the director behind episodes of acclaimed TV shows like Naked City, The Twilight Zone, and Route 66, passed away on Friday in Los Angeles, as announced by his family. He was 96.

A native of Boston, Silverstein directed Lee Marvin to a Best Actor Oscar in Cat Ballou, marking his feature directorial debut. He also directed A Man Called Horse (1970), starring Richard Harris as an English aristocrat who transforms into the leader of the Native tribe that had previously captured and tortured him. The success of the action movie led to a couple of sequels.

Born on August 3, 1927, to a doctor in Boston, Silverstein was raised in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He attended Roxbury Memorial High School for Boys, Boston College (where he switched his major from biology to drama), and Yale University for directing.

After directing and producing plays for Brandeis University, including one with Leonard Bernstein conducting, Silverstein worked on the prestigious Sunday TV series Omnibus from 1955 to 1956. His Broadway directorial effort in 1958, the comedy Maybe Tuesday, had a short run, featuring Brett Somers, Barry Newman, and Alice Ghostley.

Silverstein then transitioned to episodic television, contributing to series such as The U.S. Steel Hour, Suspicion, The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen, Route 66, Have Gun — Will Travel, Naked City, Dr. Kildare, The Twilight Zone, and The Defenders.

Among his notable Twilight Zone episodes were “The Obsolete Man” and “The Passersby” in 1961, “The Trade-Ins” in 1962, and “Spur of the Moment” in 1964.

During the production of “The Obsolete Man,” where Burgess Meredith played a librarian, Silverstein faced resistance from the editor who refused to cut the ending as he desired. This experience revealed the limited rights directors had, with the realization that they could only view the first rough cut and communicate improvements to the associate producer.