Jeff Margolis, a prolific TV producer and director whose roster of credits stretching back to the 1970s includes nearly every major awards show and dozens of live events, specials and variety shows, died today in Nashville, Tennessee. He was 78.
His death was confirmed by the Screen Actors Guild Awards Committee and the Directors Guild of America. No cause of death was given.
“Jeff Margolis created some of the most unforgettable moments in awards show history, and we are grateful that the Screen Actors Guild Awards was among them. For over 16 years, Jeff helped shape the telecast into a celebration worthy of the actors it honors. We are profoundly grateful for his contributions and will miss him dearly,” the SAG Awards Committee said in a statement.
“The entire DGA community mourns the loss of Jeff Margolis, member since 1972,” the Directors Guild of America said in a statement. “Jeff received seven DGA Awards nominations, and won two in the Music Variety Category. He also served as a member of the Guild’s Western Directors Council.”
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According to the website of his company, Jeff Margolis Productions, Margolis directed 22 American Music Awards, eight Oscars, seven Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Emmys, three Golden Globes Red Carpet Specials, three TV Land Award shows, two Daytime Emmy Award ceremonies, two Academy of Country Music Awards telecasts, and two NBC Christmas in Rockefeller Center specials.
In 1979 he directed the groundbreaking comedy film Richard Pryor Live in Concert, and he directed or produced variety shows and specials for many of the biggest stars in entertainment, including Frank Sinatra, Dolly Parton, Whitney Houston, Sammy Davis Jr., Ringo Starr, Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor, Bette Midler, Quincy Jones and Cher.
Margolis won two Directors Guild of America Awards for directing the Oscars, received six Emmy Award nominations for directing the 1991-1996 Oscars telecasts, won Emmys for directing the 1995 Oscars and for producing Sammy Davis Jr.’s 60th Anniversary Celebration.
Margolis founded Jeff Margolis Productions in 1976, and produced the NBC musical variety series Fame, the VH1 audition series In Search of the Partridge Family, The September 11th tribute concert United We Stand, Motown 45, President Bill Clinton’s 50th Birthday Celebration at Radio City Music Hall, An Evening with Bette, Cher, Meryl, Goldie, & Robin, and six years of Perry Como Christmas specials, to name just a sampling. Margolis served as producer and director for most of these television events.
Jeff Margolis Productions produced The Miss America Pageant from 1993 to 2000, with Margolis serving as producer and director. From 1993 to 1998, Margolis produced and directed A Gala for the President at Ford’s Theater.
“The thrill I get when I’m directing is indescribable,” Margolis notes on the company website. “I can’t wait to get out of bed in the morning and go to work.”
Margolis’ memoir We’re Live in 5: My Extraordinary Life in Television was published in 2020. A nephew of the late Let’s Make a Deal game show host Monty Hall, Margolis is survived by his children Adam, Erin and Samantha, and two grandchildren.