Rod Daniel

Born in Nashville, Tennessee, film and television director Rollin "Rod" Daniel, was initially expected to follow in his father's footsteps and work in the field of medicine. However, after serving in Vietnam, Daniel began a career in the advertising business, where he directed commercials and campaigns. Daniel eventually left Tennessee for Los Angeles, where he began a career in television with the help of a friend, TV producer Hugh Wilson, who helped him get work on the sitcom "WKRP in Cincinnati" (CBS 1978-1982). Daniel's career continued, and he worked on TV shows like "Newhart" (CBS 1982-1990) and "Magnum, P.I." (CBS 1980-88). Soon enough, Daniels became disillusioned with the world of television, and elected to move into feature filmmaking. Daniel's feature film directorial debut was 1985's "Teen Wolf," starring Michael J. Fox as a teenager who turns into a werewolf. Daniel was hired as a director because unlike every other director who was interviewed, he said that the movie was about a father and a son, versus simply a story about a werewolf. Following the success of "Teen Wolf," Daniel directed "Like Father Like Son" (1987), with Kirk Cameron and Dudley Moore. Following "Like Father Like Son," most of Daniel's film work was neither commercially nor critically successful. Still, Daniel continued to direct on television projects until he retired in 2002. He died in Chicago of Parkinson's disease on April 16, 2016.