Stand-up comic and director Howard Storm passes away at 94
Los Angeles, May 27
Howard Storm, the former stand-up comic who became one of television's most accomplished sitcom directors, helming beloved series such as Rhoda, Mork & Mindy, Laverne & Shirley and Valerie, died on Tuesday. He was 94.
Storm died of natural causes at his home in Beverly Hills, his son Anthony Storm told The Hollywood Reporter.
A member of Lucille Ball's Desilu Workshop in the late 1950s, the native New Yorker and son of a vaudevillian learned a lot about filmmaking from Woody Allen -- another stand-up turned director -- when he worked alongside him on Bananas (1971) and Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex but Were Afraid to Ask (1972).
Allen also acted in those films, of course, and after a scene that included him was shot, "the cinematographer would say, 'Good for me, Woody,' and the sound man would say, 'Good for me,' but there was no director to say anything," Storm recalled in a 2008 conversation for the Television Academy Foundation website The Interviews, as per The Hollywood Reporter.
"So [he and Allen] would make eye contact, and I'd say, 'No, I think you should do it again, and maybe this time, try this or try that.' So I was unofficially directing him."
Howard Storm made his official directing debut with a 1975 episode of Rhoda, starring Valerie Harper, and went on to direct five more episodes during the CBS sitcom's second season. He also helmed eight episodes of another MTM Enterprises comedy, Doc, between 1975 and 1976.
— ANI
Reader Comments
It's always sad to lose a pioneer from the golden age of TV. The fact that he learned from Woody Allen and then went on to direct those classic sitcoms... that's a serious legacy. I hope his family finds comfort in the joy he brought to millions.
94 years is a good long life, and what a career he had. I didn't know he was part of the Desilu Workshop where Lucille Ball trained so many. That's like the MIT of comedy directors! *Rhoda* was my mother's favorite show—she'd never miss it. Rest in peace, Mr. Storm.
I love how his story shows that great directors aren't always from film school—sometimes they come from the stage. That anecdote about him unofficially directing Woody Allen on set is brilliant. What a humble start! Another star in the sky now. 😢
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