Elliot Silverstein, ‘Cat Ballou’ and ‘Twilight Zone’ Director, Dies at 96

Elliot Silverstein, acclaimed television director of shows like “The Twilight Zone,” “Naked City” and “Route 66,” died on Friday in Los Angeles at the age of 96, his family has confirmed. While best known for a long resume of episodic television, Silverstein directed “Cat Ballou” in 1965 for which Lee Marvin won a Best Actor Oscar.

Silverstein, the son of a doctor, was born on Aug 3, 1927, in Boston. He was raised in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He attended Roxbury Memorial High School for Boys; Boston College. There, he changed his major from biology to drama. He then attended Yale University to pursue directing.

Beyond his artistic accomplishments, including episodes of “The Defenders,” “Dr. Kildare,” The U.S. Steel Hour” and “Have Gun Will Travel” among many others, he also was a key force in the formation of the Bill of Creative Rights for directors.

He experienced behind-the-scenes battles while helming the “Twilight Zone” episode “The Obsolete Man” (starring Burgess Meredith as a librarian put on trial for being obsolete in a world that has banned books) and realized that his rights as a television director were limited. At his urging, DGA president Goerge Sidney authorized the creation of a committee in November of 1963. The group, including Robert Altman and Sydney Pollack and chaired by Silverstein, eventually released a Bill of Creative Rights in 1964.

Among the provisions, related to the director’s cut of a given piece of art, “it declared that “It is the Director’s creative right and obligation to prepare this cut, and he must be given the time he deems necessary to fulfill this function.” For this milestone, Silverstein received the Robert B. Aldrich Achievement Award from the DGA in 1985. He was then named an honorary life member of the guild in 1990.

He also helmed “A Man Called Horse,” starring Richard Harris. The 1970 feature, about an English aristocrat who becomes the leader of a Native tribe, spawned “The Return of a Man Called Horse” in 1976 and “Triumphs of a Man Called Horse” in 1983.

He retired from the industry in the mid-1990s and spent his final decades teaching at USC. He is survived by his brother Jason. The filmmaker was married three times, including (from 1962 to 1968) to actress Evelyn Ward who was the mother of performer David Cassidy.

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