Tom Cherones

Cherones was born on September 11, 1939, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where he was also raised.^[2] His father, Tom Cherones Sr. operated a radio and television repair shop there.^[2] His grandfather was a Greek immigrant. His mother was Hazel Belle Hyche. He has a younger brother, Bill Cherones, who also worked in Hollywood.^[2]

Cherones graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1961 with a bachelor's degree in journalism and received a master's degree in telecommunications from the University of Alabama in 1966. From 1961 to 1965, he was a lieutenant in the United States Navy.^[3]

Cherones began working in educational television while a student at the University of Alabama and later produced and directed programs for WQED in Pittsburgh.^[3] His first work after moving to Hollywood in 1975 was as a production manager for General Hospital and Welcome Back Kotter.^[3]

Cherones worked as a television producer and/or director on Growing Pains, My Sister Sam, and Annie McGuire in the 1980s. In the 1990s, he directed and produced Seinfeld (81 episodes) and NewsRadio (56 episodes). His work on Seinfeld won him praise as well as an Emmy, a DGA Award and a Golden Globe Award.

Several of Cherones's Seinfeld episodes are considered highlights of the series, including "The Chinese Restaurant," "The Parking Garage," and "The Contest," with the latter featured in rankings of the greatest television episodes of all time.^[5] Within Seinfeld, he appears in a cameo as the fictional director in "The Pilot." Cherones left Seinfeld after season five at Jerry Seinfeld's request: "He was tired of the same thing, I guess. We changed writers almost every season, and finally he just wanted somebody else, another presence, to try to keep it fresh," Cherones said.^[6] He was succeeded as lead director by Andy Ackerman. Cherones also directed episodes of other shows including Caroline in the City, Ellen, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and Desperate Housewives.

In 2003, Cherones was inducted into the Alabama Stage and Screen Hall of Fame.^[7] He was also inducted into the University of Alabama College of Communication and Information Sciences Hall of Fame in 2001.

From 2002 to 2014, Cherones taught a film production course at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, where he had earned a master's degree in 1976.^[8] In 2012, Cherones published his first novel, The Hardly Boys, a parody of the old Hardy Boys books.^[9][10]

Cherones had two children, Susan and Scott, from his marriage to his first wife, Bobby.^[11] He moved to Hollywood in 1975 with his second wife, Joyce Keener, who died in 2006.^[12]

Cherones was later married to photographer Carol E. Richards. They divided their time between Florence, Oregon and Taos, New Mexico. Cherones died from Alzheimer's disease at his home in Oregon, on January 5, 2026, at the age of 86.^[11]