Emmy-Winning TV Legend Dies at His Home

Bruce Bilson, the Emmy-winning TV director whose fingerprints were all over some of television’s most beloved classics, has died at 97.

A towering presence behind the camera for more than five decades, Bilson worked on legendary series including The Andy Griffith Show, Get Smart, Hogan’s Heroes and dozens more — quietly shaping the sound, rhythm and look of American TV comedy.

Bilson died peacefully at his Los Angeles home on Friday, according to his daughter, producer Julie Bilson Ahlberg.

A member of a four-generation Hollywood family, Bilson’s career spanned nearly 400 directing and assistant-directing jobs. He cut his teeth early at Desilu, the iconic production company founded by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and went on to direct more than 100 half-hour comedies before branching into hourlong dramas in the 1970s.

Among his many credits: The Patty Duke Show, The Doris Day Show, The Odd Couple, Love, American Style, Barney Miller, The Fall Guy, Hotel, Dinosaurs, Viper and The Sentinel. In a fitting full-circle moment, he also directed the final sitcom episode Lucille Ball ever appeared in — the 1986 ABC series Life With Lucy.

Bilson won his Emmy in 1968 for a third-season episode of Get Smart, earning the honor on his 40th birthday. Though that episode featured film-noir nods to The Maltese Falcon, Bilson later said his personal favorite was a submarine-themed installment that borrowed a real sub from a Frank Sinatra movie set.

Before becoming a director, Bilson played a key role behind the scenes of The Andy Griffith Show, serving as the first assistant director on 58 episodes during its first two seasons. He was even the one who called “roll it” during the filming of the show’s iconic whistling opening credits — a moment etched into TV history.

Over the years, Bilson became known as a trusted “outsider” director — someone who could drop into established shows, earn a cast’s trust quickly, and keep things running smoothly. “You had to prove yourself every time,” he once said of moving from set to set.

Born in Brooklyn in 1928, Bilson moved to Los Angeles as a child when his father landed a job at Warner Bros. He later studied film at UCLA, served in the U.S. Air Force, and worked his way up through editing and assistant directing before joining the Directors Guild.

His résumé reads like a greatest-hits list of classic TV: Bewitched, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Bonanza, Green Acres, MAS*H, The Brady Bunch, The Love Boat, Dallas, Dynasty, Knight Rider and Wonder Woman, among many others. He also directed TV movies and feature films, including The North Avenue Irregulars and Chattanooga Choo Choo.

Bilson is survived by his wife, actress Renne Jarrett; his children; several grandchildren — including actress Rachel Bilson — and great-grandchildren.

Looking back on his career, Bilson once summed up the lesson that guided him most: tell the story with the actors first, and let the cameras follow. It’s a philosophy that helped define generations of television — and left a legacy still felt every time those old theme songs play.