Jack Shea

Veteran television director Jack Shea first stepped behind the camera in the 1950s, helming variety shows for comedy legends Bob Hope and Jerry Lewis. After several one-episode forays into such series as the thrilling island-cop-drama "Hawaii Five-O" and the Ronald Reagan-featuring "Death Valley Days," Shea became a regular force behind the sitcom "Sanford and Son," in which he helped bring out some of the junkyard dealer's most outrageous and cantankerous moments. The director has been a prominent and progressive figure in both African-American and female-oriented television, overseeing nearly half of the nouveau-riche-black-family comedy "The Jeffersons"' entire canon as well as numerous installments of such sitcoms as the uproarious "The Golden Girls" and Southern-flavored "Designing Women." In 1997, Shea succeeded fellow TV vet Gene Reynolds as president of the Directors Guild of America. Before retiring from the business, he left his directorial mark on such '90s mainstays as "Growing Pains," "Full House," and "Sister, Sister."