Harvey Hart
Television and film director (1928–1989)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Harvey Hart (March 19, 1928 – November 22, 1989) was a Canadian television and film director and a television producer.[1]
Harvey Hart | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 19, 1928 |
| Died | November 22, 1989 (aged 61) Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Education | University of Toronto Dramatic Workshop |
| Occupations | Film director Television director Television producer |
| Years active | 1952–1989 |
Career
A University of Toronto alumnus, class of 1949, Hart soon set his sights on a career in television. That decision, coupled with the fact that Canada was, as yet, still in its pre-television era, dictated his next move, from Canada's biggest city to its U.S. counterpart, where Hart supported himself as an Arthur Murray Studio dance instructor while attending Erwin Piscator's New School-affiliated Dramatic Workshop.[2]
Returning in 1952, Hart was promptly hired by the CBC,[2] for whom he created over 30 television productions, among them several episodes of an anthology series, Festival, like Home of the Brave (1961) and The Luck of Ginger Coffey (1961), respective adaptations of the like-named 1946 play and 1960 novel. In October 1959, Hart produced the North American television premiere of Arthur Miller's The Crucible for the series Startime, starring Leslie Nielsen as John Proctor.[3]
In 1963 he left the CBC and moved to the United States, where, in the following years, he directed episodes for TV series such as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and Star Trek, as well as theatrical features, including Bus Riley's Back in Town (1965) and The Sweet Ride (1968).[4]
He moved back to Toronto in 1970 where he directed several feature films, including Fortune and Men's Eyes (1971), The Pyx (1973), Shoot (1976) and Goldenrod (1976), for which he won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Director.[5] In the mid 1970s Hart directed four episodes of Columbo: By Dawn's Early Light (1974), A Deadly State of Mind (1975), Forgotten Lady (1975), and Now You See Him (1976).
He continued splitting his time between film work in Canada and television work in Los Angeles throughout the 1980s. He received a Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Television Film for the mini-series East of Eden (1981)[6] and a Gemini Award for Best Direction in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series for the television crime-drama film Passion and Paradise (1989).
Personal life and death
Hart was married to Katherine, with whom he had three children, two daughters and one son.[7]
On November 22, 1989, Hart died of a heart attack at Toronto General Hospital, at age 61.[8] survived by his wife, children, and three step-siblings. Hart's remains are interred in the Pride of Israel section of Mount Sinai Memorial Park in Toronto.[7]
Selected filmography
- The Luck of Ginger Coffey (1961) (TV)
- Dark Intruder (1965)
- Bus Riley's Back in Town (1965)
- Sullivan's Empire (1967)
- The Sweet Ride (1968)
- Fortune and Men's Eyes (1971)
- Mahoney's Last Stand (1972)
- The Pyx (1973)
- Goldenrod (1976)
- Shoot (1976)
ber 22, 1989*East of Eden (1981) (TV miniseries)
- The High Country (1981)
- Utilities (1983)
- Beverly Hills Madam (1986) (TV)
- Stone Fox (1987) (TV)
- Passion and Paradise (1989) (TV)
