Vincent McEveety

Part of an extended family of directors, Vincent McEveety was active in the television industry for over 40 years. In addition to his father, Bernard, both his brothers were directors, and his nephew Stephen McEveety is a producer. He began his career as an assistant director working on TV dramas such as "Whirlybirds,""Zorro," and the popular crime drama "The Untouchables." It was on the latter show that he was given his first opportunity to direct as well as produce in the early 1960s. Afterwards, he concentrated on directing and worked steadily for the next few years on a series of westerns and action programs, most notably the legendary "Gunsmoke," helming 45 episodes from 1965 until 1972. A slight change of pace was his work on "Star Trek," one of his few forays into science fiction. He also had a long association with the Walt Disney company, directing many episodes of the family series "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color," as well as Disney features "Herbie Goes Bananas" and "The Million Dollar Duck." McEveety remained active until his last directing credit in 2000, working consistently on the most popular shows of his era, including "Columbo," "Simon & Simon," "In the Heat of The Night," and nearly 30 episodes of the classic Angela Lansbury mystery "Murder, She Wrote."