Ralph Senensky

Director and writer Ralph Senensky got his start working in a local theater and directing summer stock before moving into television in 1961, when he directed several episodes of the medical show "Dr. Kildare," starring Richard Chamberlain as a heart-throb doctor. Senensky did a spooky episode of "The Twilight Zone" before directing a few episodes of the man-on-the-run series "The Fugitive" in the mid-'60s. At the same time, he did one episode of the western series "The Big Valley," with Barbara Stanwyck, and in 1967, he came to his best-known credits on the original "Star Trek" series. From 1970 to 1971, Senensky did some episodes of the sitcom "The Partridge Family," about a family determined to make it big as a musical act. In 1973, Senesky directed a television movie of Sherwood Anderson's disquieting short-story collection "Winesburg, Ohio." He then moved into family fare with the long-running "The Waltons" and romantic comedy with "Hart to Hart."