‘Get Smart’ Director was 97

Bruce Bilson, who gained an Emmy for steering “Get Smart” and directed a whole bunch of TV episodes, died on Jan. 16 in Los Angeles. He was 97.(*97*)

Bilson was best identified for steering the undercover agent sitcom parody “Get Smart,” for which he gained a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series in 1968. Over the span of his decades-long profession, Bilson directed over 400 episodes of tv, including episodes of “The Odd Couple,” “Hogan’s Heroes,” “The Patty Duke Show,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “MASH,” “Hawaii 5-0,” “The Flash,” “Viper” and “Dinosaurs.”

(*97*)

Bilson graduated from UCLA in 1946, a part of the establishment’s first movie college graduating class. After serving in the Air Force, Bilson grew to become an assistant editor on Groucho Marx’s “You Bet Your Life,” and later an assistant director on “Wyatt Earp” and “The Andy Griffith Show.”

(*97*)

Bilson was born on May 19, 1928, in Brooklyn, N.Y., to Hattie Bilson, a display and journal author, and George Bilson, a producer at Warner Brothers and RKO.(*97*)

Bilson married Mona Whiteman in 1955, with whom he had two youngsters. In 1984, he married actress Renne Jarrett, who he was married to until his loss of life.(*97*)

He is survived by his spouse, his youngsters, Danny Bilson, Julie Bilson Ahlberg, and his stepson, Drew Stauffer (Liz), along with his grandchildren, Rachel, Hattie, and Rosemary Bilson, John Pierce (Courtney), Sidney and Suki Sekula, Bowie Stauffer, and great-grandchildren Briar Christensen and Everly Pierce.(*97*)

A memorial service for Bilson can be held at Hillside Memorial Park in Los Angeles on Jan. 25 at 2 p.m.

(*97*)

Donations in his identify could also be made to casala.org. (*97*)