Allen Baron

All roads apparently lead back to childhood, especially for Allen Baron, whose 1961 cult film noir, "Blast of Silence," was shot by producer/cinematographer Merrill S. Brody, a kindergarten friend. A native New Yorker, Baron grew up in Brooklyn, enrolling in New York's School of Visual Arts to hone his illustrating skills. Work as a cartoonist and illustrator paved the way for him to explore different facets of filmmaking-acting, writing, directing, and set design. Baron made his acting bow in a supporting role in Errol Flynn's 1959 cinematic finale, "Cuban Rebel Girls." Before long, he was getting experience behind the camera as an assistant director for the 1960 cheapie "Violent Women" and a producer on the 1961 Buddy Hackett/Mickey Rooney bomb "Everything's Ducky," and making his television directorial debut for two episodes of the 1961 Troy Donahue detective show, "Surfside 6." Even though Baron wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the aforementioned 1961 noir, it made barely a ripple upon its release. Despite the setback, the former illustrator made a name for himself as an oft-hired television director in the 1960s and 1970s for a number of well-known shows including "Room 222," "Love, American Style," "The Love Boat," and "Charlie's Angels." Since the mid-1980s, Baron has lived in Beverly Hills, working as an abstract painter, although he did appear in the 2007 French documentary "Requiem for a Killer: The Making of 'Blast of Silence'," prior to the well-received DVD release of his film in 2008.