Jay Sandrich, prolific sitcom director who won Emmys directing The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Cosby Show, dies at 89

Deadline

Sandrich directed two-thirds of The Mary Tyler Moore Show -- 119 of 168 episodes -- including the pilot, winning the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy awards in 1971 and 1973. He won two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series for The Cosby Show in 1985 and 1986. Overall, he earned 10 Primetime Emmy nominations: five for Mary Tyler Moore, two for Soap and three for The Cosby Show. He also earned a Daytime Emmy. He was named to the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2020, presented by sitcom-directing legend Jim Burrows. "Known as a mentor to younger TV directors, Sandrich was heavily influential in casting decisions, including advocating switching the roles of Betty White and Rue McClanahan for Golden Girls, after he had worked with White on Mary Tyler Moore," says Deadline's Patrick Hipes. "He also gave Henry Winkler and John Ritter their first TV jobs." Sandrich also directed episodes of Get Smart, That Girl, Laverne & Shirley, The Bob Newhart Show, Lou Grant, Benson, Night Court and Two and a Half Men.