Marvin J. Chomsky, ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Roots’ Director, Dies at 92
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Marvin J. Chomsky, a four-time Emmy-winning director with credits including Roots, Star Trek and Hawaii Five-O, has died. He was 92.
Chomsky died Monday evening of natural causes in a hospice facility in Santa Monica, his son, producer Peter Chomsky, told The Hollywood Reporter.
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Chomsky called the shots for such features as Evel Knievel (1971), starring George Hamilton, and Tank (1984), starring James Garner, and helmed the straight-from-the headlines miniseries Billionaire Boys Club in 1987.
He won his Emmys for his work on the 1978 miniseries Holocaust, the 1980 telefilm Attica, the 1982 telefilm Inside the Third Reich and the 1986 miniseries Peter the Great. He collected five other nominations during his career.
Born in New York City in 1929, Chomsky started out as a set decorator and art director. He began his directing career in 1964 with the medical drama The Doctors and the Nurses, then followed with episodes of other series including The Wild Wild West, Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, Mannix and Police Story.
Chomsky directed three episodes of NBC’s original Star Trek — “And the Children Shall Lead” and “Day of the Dove” in 1968 and “All Our Yesterdays” in 1969 — and in 1977 helmed two episodes of the groundbreaking ABC miniseries Roots.
He also directed numerous TV movies including Assault on the Wayne, Fireball Forward, Invitation to a March with Blythe Danner, I’ll Be Home for Christmas, Telling Secrets with Cybill Shepherd and Doctor Franken.
His last credit came for directing and producing the 1995 telefilm Catherine the Great, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Chomsky also served as a producer on a number of projects, including a 1966 TV adaptation of Death of a Salesman, starring Lee J. Cobb, and the 1966 sci-fi film The Bubble, starring Michael Cole.
Survivors include his three sons, Peter (and his wife, Genelle), Eric and David; and his granddaughter, Liliana.
Mike Barnes contributed to this report.
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