Burt Brinckerhoff

During the 1950's and 1960's, Burt Brinckerhoff accumulated a wide variety of TV acting credits, sprinkled alongside some award-winning work on the New York stage. Though he was never on more than a few episodes of any show, his resume encompasses numerous classics of the genre, everything from the medical intern vs. surgeon drama "Dr. Kildare" and the intensely realistic hospital drama "Ben Casey" to "The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse" and "Kraft Theater." Then, beginning in the early 1970's, Brinckerhoff continued his TV career with an equally impressive and wide-range list of credits as a director. In 1977 alone, he guided two episodes of the undercover detective crime drama "Baretta," two episodes of "The Betty White Show," and two episodes of anthology series "Visions," and several other programs. Until he retired in his mid-60's, he continued to torridly labor for the small screen, leading actors through the paces on series such as Aaron Spelling's teen and family soap dramas "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "7th Heaven." Though far from a household name, Brinckerhoff is a prime example of a TV "lifer" who has been instrumental in the evolution of the medium since its earliest days. He even at one point directed a never-aired pilot for the hit roommate series "Three's Company."