Cates, Gilbert 1934- (Gil Cates)

views updated

Cates, Gilbert 1934- (Gil Cates)

PERSONAL

Original name, Gilbert Katz; born June 6, 1934, in New York, NY; son of Nathan (a dress manufacturer) and Nina (maiden name, Peltzman) Katz; brother of Joseph Cates (a director and producer); uncle of Phoebe Cates (an actress); married Betty Jane Dubin, February 9, 1957 (divorced); married Judith Reichman (a gynecologist and writer), January 25, 1987; children: (first marriage) Melissa Beth, Jonathan Michael (a film editor), David Sawyer (a music editor), Gilbert Lewis, Jr. (an actor, director, producer, and writer); (second marriage) Ronit Reichman, Anat Reichman (stepchildren). Education: Syracuse University, B.A., 1955, M.A., 1965; trained at Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, New York City, 1953; studied with Robert Lewis, New York City, 1959. Avocational Interests: Fencing, photography.

Addresses:

Office—Cates/Doty Productions, 10920 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 830, Los Angeles, CA 90024-6510. Agent—William Morris Agency, 1 William Morris Place, Beverly Hills, CA 90212.

Career:

Producer and director. Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, instructor in speech and drama, 1955; University of California, Los Angeles, dean of School of Theatre, Film, and Television, 1990-97, artistic director of Geffen Playhouse, Los Angeles, beginning 1994; Cates/Doty Productions, Beverly Hills, CA, producer and director. Childville, Inc., member of board of directors, 1966-73; Israeli Cancer Research Fund, member of board of directors, 1992-94. Previously worked as a page at National Broadcasting Company.

Member:

Directors Guild of America (honorary life member; vice president of eastern region, 1965, and western region, beginning 1980; national president, 1983-87; national secretary-treasurer, 1997—), Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (member of board of governors of directors' branch, 2002-05; chair of board of directors), American Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Actors' Equity Association (member of eastern regional board of directors, 1962-63), League of New York Theaters, Tau Delta Phi, Friars Club (member of board of governors), Women in Film (member of board of directors, 1993-94; vice president, 2003).

Awards, Honors:

Best short film award, International Film Importers and Distributors, 1962; San Francisco Film Festival citation, 1963, for The Painting; Image Award, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and TV Scout Award, excellence in television, 1972, both for To All My Friends on Shore; Chancellor's Medal, Syracuse University, 1974; Emmy Award nomination, outstanding directing in a limited series or special, 1985, for "Consenting Adult," An ABC Theatre Presentation; Robert B. Aldrich Achievement Award, Directors Guild of America, 1989; Emmy Award, outstanding variety, music, or comedy program, 1991, Emmy Award nominations, outstanding variety, music, or comedy special, 1990, annually, 1993-95, 1997-99, 2001, 2003, 2005-06, and Golden Laurel Award nomination, television producer of the year in variety television, Producers Guild of America, 2006, all for The … Annual Academy Awards; Emmy Award nomination, outstanding directing in a miniseries or special, 1990, for Do You Know the Muffin Man?; Emmy Award nomination, outstanding directing in a miniseries or special, 1991, for Absolute Strangers; Directors Guild of America Award nomination, outstanding direction in dramatic specials, 1991, for Call Me Anna; received star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, 1994; Jimmy Doolittle Award for Outstanding Contribution to Los Angeles Theatre, 1998; Lifetime Directors Achievement Award, Caucus of Producers, Writers, and Directors, 1998; L.A. Ovation Award, 1999; Arents Award, Syracuse University, 2003; President's Award, Directors Guild of America, 2005; Board of Governors Award, American Society of Cinematographers, 2005; Filmmaker Award, Cinema Audio Society, 2007; Citation Award, Edinburgh Film Festival.

CREDITS

Television Work; Movies:

Producer and director, To All My Friends on Shore, CBS, 1972.

Director, The Affair (also known as Love Song), ABC, 1973.

Director, Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye, NBC, 1977.

Supervising producer and director, Country Gold, CBS, 1982.

Producer, The Kid from Nowhere, NBC, 1982.

Director, Hobson's Choice, CBS, 1983.

Producer and director, Burning Rage (also known as Coalfire), CBS, 1984.

Producer and director, Child's Cry (also known as Child's Play and Who Hears the Child's Cry), CBS, 1986.

Producer and director, Fatal Judgment (also known as Fatal Dosage), CBS, 1988.

Director, My First Love (also known as One More Time and Second Chance), ABC, 1989.

Director, Do You Know the Muffin Man?, CBS, 1989.

Producer and director, Call Me Anna (also known as Call Me Anna: The Patty Duke Story and My Name Is Anna), ABC, 1990.

Executive producer and director, Absolute Strangers (also known as Matter of Privacy), CBS, 1991.

Executive producer (with Donna Mills), In My Daughter's Name (also known as Overruled), CBS, 1992.

Executive producer and director, Confessions: Two Faces of Evil, 1994.

Television Work; Specials:

Producer and director, After the Fall, NBC, 1974.

Producer and director (with brother Joseph Cates), Circus Lions, Tigers, and Melissa Too, NBC, 1977.

Executive producer (with J. Cates), "Have I Got a Christmas for You," Hallmark Hall of Fame, NBC, 1977.

Executive producer (with J. Cates), "Fame," Hallmark Hall of Fame, NBC, 1978.

Executive producer (with J. Cates), Country Night of Stars, NBC, 1978.

Executive producer (with J. Cates), Country Night of Stars II, NBC, 1978.

Executive producer, Stubby Pringles Christmas, NBC, 1978.

Executive producer (with J. Cates), Country Stars of the 70s, NBC, 1979.

Executive producer (with J. Cates), Skinflint, NBC, 1979.

Executive producer (with J. Cates), Elvis Remembered: Nashville to Hollywood, NBC, 1980.

Executive producer (with J. Cates), Fifty Years of Country Music, NBC, 1981.

Director, Johnny Cash Christmas, 1983, CBS, 1983.

Director (with J. Cates), Johnny Cash: Christmas on the Road, CBS, 1984.

Director, The 10th Anniversary Johnny Cash Christmas Special, CBS, 1985.

Director, "Consenting Adult," An ABC Theatre Presentation, ABC, 1985.

Producer, The … Annual Academy Awards, ABC, annually, 1989-95, 1997-99, 2001, 2003, 2005-2006.

Producer, To Life, America Celebrates Israel's 50th, CBS, 1998.

(Sometimes credited as Gil Cates) Executive producer, An American Celebration at Ford's Theatre, ABC, annually, 1999, 2001-2006.

Producer, America Celebrates Ford's Theater, ABC, 1999.

Executive producer, Sunday at the Oscars, ABC, 1999.

Executive producer, Oscar Countdown, ABC, 2001.

(As Gil Cates) Producer and director, "A Death in the Family," Masterpiece Theatre, PBS, 2002.

Executive producer, Rockin' for the U.S.A.: A National Tribute to the U.S. Military, CBS, 2002.

(As Gil Cates) Executive producer and director, Collected Stories, PBS, 2002.

(As Gil Cates) Executive producer, Oscar Countdown, ABC, 2003.

(As Gil Cates) Executive producer, CBS at 75 (also known as CBS at 75: A Primetime Celebration), CBS, 2003.

Executive producer, Oscar Countdown, ABC, 2005, 2006.

Also worked as producer and director of specials featuring Ice Follies, the Worlds Fair, and Aquacade, all ABC, 1965.

Television Work; Series:

Producer (with Roger Peterson and Chester Feldman), I've Got a Secret (game show), CBS, between 1952 and 1967.

Producer and director, Mother's Day (game show), ABC, c. 1958-59.

Haggis Baggis (game show), NBC, 1958-59.

Producer and director, Camouflage (game show), ABC, 1961-62.

Creator, producer, and director, Hootenanny, ABC, 1962.

Executive producer and director, International Showtime, NBC, 1962-64.

Producer and director, Faerie Tale Theatre (also known as Shelley Duvall's "Faerie Tale Theatre"), Showtime, 1982.

Television Work; Miniseries:

Executive producer and director, Innocent Victims, ABC, 1996.

(As Gil Cates) Executive producer, NetForce (also known as Tom Clancy's "NetForce"), ABC, 1999.

Television Director; Episodic:

"Rapunzel," Faerie Tale Theatre (also known as Shelley Duvall's "Faerie Tale Theatre"), Showtime, 1983.

"Goldilocks and the Three Bears," Faerie Tale Theatre (also known as Shelley Duvall's "Faerie Tale Theatre "), Showtime, 1984.

(As Alan Smithee) "Paladin of the Lost Hour," The Twilight Zone, 1985.

Also directed episodes of Picture This and Reach for the Stars, both 1960s.

Television Work; Other:

Producer and director, Electric Showcase, ABC, 1965.

Producer, Off Campus (pilot), CBS, 1977.

Producer and director, One More Time, ABC, 1988.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Intimate Portrait: Pam Dawber, Lifetime, 2002.

(As Gil Cates) The Awards Show Awards Show, Trio, 2003.

Television Guest Appearances; Episodic:

Sunday Morning Shootout, AMC, 2007.

Film Work:

Producer and director, The Painting (short film), Union Films, 1962.

Producer and director, Rings around the World, Columbia, 1967.

Producer and director, I Never Sang for My Father, Columbia, 1970.

Director, Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams, Columbia, 1973.

Producer and director, One Summer Love (also known as Dragonfly), American International Pictures, 1976.

Director, The Promise (also known as Face of a Stranger), Universal, 1979.

Executive producer and director, The Last Married Couple in America, Universal, 1980.

Producer and director, Oh, God! Book II (also known as Tracy and Friend), Warner Bros., 1980.

Director, Backfire, Vidmark, 1989.

Film Appearances:

50 Years of Action!, 1986.

Himself, Pesel Ha'Zahav, 1999.

(As Gil Cates) Mr. Walsh, $pent (also known as Spent), Regent Entertainment, 2000.

Going through Splat: The Life and Work of Stewart Stern (documentary), Rosen/Ward, 2005.

(As Gil Cates) Who Needs Sleep?, 2006.

Stage Work:

Stage manager, Shinbone Alley, Broadway Theatre, New York City, 1957.

Associate producer (with Joseph Cates), Spoon River Anthology (later renamed Spoon River), Booth Theatre, New York City, 1963, then Royal Court Theatre, London, 1964.

Producer (with Jack Farren), You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running (four one-acts), Ambassador Theatre, New York City, 1967-68, then Broadhurst Theatre, New York City, 1968-69.

Producer, I Never Sang for My Father, Longacre Theatre, New York City, 1968.

Producer, The Chinese and Dr. Fish (double-bill), Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York City, 1970.

Producer (with Roy N. Nevans and Albert J. Schiff), Solitaire/Double Solitaire (double-bill), John Golden Theatre, New York City, 1971.

Director, The Price, Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven, CT, 1971.

Director, Voices, Ethel Barrymore Theatre, 1972.

Producer (with Matthew Alexander) and director, Tricks of the Trade, Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York City, 1980.

Director, Collected Stories, 1999.

Director, Under the Blue Sky, Geffen Playhouse, Los Angeles, 2002.

Director, Paint Your Wagon, 2004.

Director, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 2005.

Director, A Picasso, Audrey Skirball Kenis Theatre, Los Angeles, 2007.

Also producing director of Six Dance Lessons in Sex Weeks, Geffen Playhouse, Los Angeles.