WILLIAM ASHER

William Asher was born in New York on August 8, 1921, the second child and only son of film producer Ephraim M. Asher and his actress-wife Lillian Bonner. With Universal Pictures head Carl Laemmle Jr., the elder Asher produced the classic 1931 feature film Frankenstein. He went on to produce-on his own-more than twenty other motion pictures, including Magnificent Obsession (1935, with Agnes Moorehead).

Young Asher's childhood fascination with the movie business was cut short in 1937 by his family's move to New York (following his father's sudden death). Yet it could not be quashed. In his teens, Asher made his way back to Hollywood where he began his career in the mailroom at Universal. With the studio now under new management, he was on his own. His classroom: the studio's soundstages. His instructors: the directors, cinematographers, and editors who daily peopled the lot.

His studies interrupted by World War 11, Asher served with the U.S. Army Signal Corps in Astoria, New York, and as special unit photographer at Cushing General Hospital. After the war, he returned to Universal and honed his skills as an assistant editor and an assistant cameraman.

With the young film actor Richard Quine (who brought My Sister Eileen, with Dick York, to the big screen), he co-wrote, co-produced, and co-directed his first feature film entitled Leather Gloves (1948) for Columbia Pictures.

TV beckoned with directing assignments (Big Town and The Colgate Comedy Hour). In 195 1, Asher married actress Dani Sue Nolan. His work on Racket Squad impressed CBS vice president (and future Bewitched executive producer) Harry Ackerman. In 1952, Asher was hired to direct the pilot and first ten episodes of Our Miss Brooks.

Desi Arnaz was also impressed with the Our Miss Brooks pilot and hired Asher to guide I Love Lucy for its second season. (Days before he started Our Miss Brooks, Asher's wife gave birth to their first child, Liane.) Under Asher's direction, Lucy displaced Milton Berle and Arthur Godfrey from their top-rated spots, resulting in the first of two Emmy Awards for Ball and the series.

During his first Lucy summer hiatus, Asher directed the pilot and most of the first year's episodes of Danny Thomas's Make Room For Daddy, for which he was honored with an Emmy (Best New Program), the Sylvania Award, and the TV Guide Award.

He followed this same formula with December Bride, Willy, The Lineup, and the revised Ray Bolger Show. During Asher's third consecutive Lucy season, the young director wanted to stretch and took on back-to-back feature film assignments at Columbia: The Shadow on the Window and The Twenty-Seventh Day. The latter was considered by some critics the most important science fiction film of its time.

Asher next produced and directed a season of NBC’s The Dinah Shore Show, winning a second Emmy. He returned to direct the last batch of Lucy segments.

Asher went on to helm The Donna Reed Show, Fibber McGee and Molly, The Thin Man, and the revamped Shirley Temple Show, which, as producer, he reinvigorated through the use of two writers and stars, as well as talented young directors (Arthur Miller, David Greene, Robert Ellis Miller).

In 1961, Asher staged and directed President John E Kennedy's inaugural gala, produced by Frank Sinatra. That spring he did the same for the president's surprise birthday celebration at which Marilyn Monroe sang to the president.

The year 1963 marked the launch of The Patty Duke Show (which he produced and directed), Beach Party (which created a new and much-imitated big-film genre), his marriage to Elizabeth Montgomery, the release of Johnny Cool (he directed, Montgomery starred), and the Bewitched pilot.

In 1964, Bill and Liz welcomed their first child, William Jr., and Bewitched premiered on ABC (becoming its biggest hit). The following years marked the premiere of Beach Blanket Bingo, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, the new series Gidget (with Sally Field), and the arrival of another son, Robert. He completed the groundbreaking teen pictures in 1966 with Fireball 500. In June 1969, close to the end of Bewitched's fifth season, the Ashers welcomed their daughter, Rebecca. Two months after Samantha left ABC in 1972, Asher was back on the air with The Paul Lynde Show and Temperature’s Rising.

In 1976, he began directing TV's Alice (with Linda Lavin). That summer, he married actress Joyce Bulifant and adopted her son Jon (now starring in the USA cable series Weird Science). In 1980, Asher launched the adventure show, Here's Boomer The following year, his eleventh feature, Night Warning, was released.

In 1983, critical acclaim came his way for his lavish TV production of the classic Charlie's Aunt (starring Charles Grodin and Bullifant). He next supervised multiple episodes of Foul Play, Harper Valley PTA, Private Benjamin, Me and Mom, and Crazy Like a Fox. He then directed the MGM/UA feature Movers and Shakers. This was followed by the very successful TV movie, I Dream of Jeannie Fifteen Years Later. The year 1986 was marked by the appearance of the medical series Kay O'Brien (the first of several he developed, produced, and directed for Kushner-Locke Company).

Asher ushered in the 1990s, directing the highly rated TV special Return to Green Acres (with Eddie Albert, Eva Gabor, and many of the original Acres cast). And he recently served as director of development for Kushner-Locke and completed two original screenplays. He's now at work on his long-anticipated autobiography and continues to be actively involved in many charitable causes. Asher is the father of Liane, Brian, Billy, Robert, Rebecca, and John; stepfather of Charlie, Mary, Merritt, and David; and grandfather of Alexandra, Megan, Keith, Ruby, and Emerald. Asher lives in Palm Springs with his fourth wife, Meredith. In August 1996, he celebrated his seventy-fifth birthday.

Biography courtesy Herbie Pilato, author of "Bewitched Forever"
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