Bruce Bilson, Emmy-Winning Director on ‘Get Smart’ and ‘Hogan’s Heroes,’ Dies at 97

Bruce Bilson, the Emmy Award-winning TV director, has died at the age of 97.

Bilson died on Jan. 16 in Los Angeles. He was responsible for hundreds of TV episodes over his long career. He was most known for helming episodes of the spy comedy “Get Smart.” He won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for his work on the NBC series in 1968.

Bilson netted over 400 directed episodes of TV throughout his career. Along with “Get Smart,” he also handled episodes for big shows like “The Odd Couple,” “MASH,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Hogan’s Heroes,” “Hawaii 5-0,” “Dinosaurs,” “The Flash” and more.

The director was born on May 19, 1928 in Brooklyn, New York to Warner Bros. and RKO producer and George Bilson and writer Hattie Bilson. He graduated from UCLA in 1946 as part of the university’s first film school graduating class. After time serving as an AD on shows like “The Andy Griffith Show” and “Wyatt Earp,” he began directing.

Bilson handled 22 episodes of “Get Smart” between 1965-68. His Emmy win came for his work on a Season 3 episode and he won his award on his 40th birthday. He later joined the stable of directors for the last four seasons of “Hogan’s Heroes” and helmed 25 episodes there from 1967-71.

Other big shows he handled episodes of included “Wonder Woman,” “The Brady Bunch,” “Dynasty,” “Knight Rider,” “The Partridge Family” and “Bonanza.”

In 1955, Bilson married Mona Whiteman and they were together until their divorce in 1976. He then married actress Renne Jarrett in 1984 and they remained together until his death.

He is survived by Jarrett along with his son Danny Bilson, daughter Julie Bilson Ahlberg, and stepson, Drew Stauffer. He’s also survived by his grandchildren Rachel, Hattie, and Rosemary Bilson, John Pierce, Sidney and Suki Sekula, Bowie Stauffer, and great-grandchildren Briar Christensen and Everly Pierce.

More to come…

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