Emmy-winning producer, director Tom Cherones, best known for his work on Seinfeld, among many other credits, has died. He was 86.
Cherones died Monday at his home in Florence, Oregon, after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease, a representative announced.
Born September 11, 1939 in Tuscaloosa, AL, Cherones graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1961 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and received a master’s degree in telecommunications from the University of Alabama in 1966. He also served four years as a lieutenant in the United States Navy.
While a student at UA, Cherones begin working in educational television and later went on to produce and direct programs for WQED in Pittsburgh. He moved to Hollywood in 1975 and landed his first job in the industry as a production manager for General Hospital.
His first job as a television director was in 1986 with the “Babes in the Woods” episode on CBS comedy My Sister Sam. It was in 1990 that he began work on Seinfeld as a director and producer in a total of 85 episodes over the first five seasons, earning a DGA award for directing “The Contest” episode in 1993, which featured in the rankings of greatest television episodes of all time, as well as an Emmy award as a producer. Several of Cherones’s other Seinfeld episodes are considered highlights of the series, including “The Chinese Restaurant” and “The Parking Garage.”He also appears in a cameo in Seinfeld as the fictional director in “The Pilot.”
Cherones left Seinfeld after season five at Jerry Seinfeld’s request: “He was tired of the same thing, I guess. We changed writers almost every season, and finally he just wanted somebody else, another presence, to try to keep it fresh,” Cherones said in a Television Academy Foundation interview. He was succeeded as lead director by Andy Ackerman. You a can see a couple of Cherones’ interviews below.
Cherones also directed 56 episodes of NewsRadio, and also worked on Welcome Back Kotter, Caroline in the City, Annie McGuire and Ellen.
Cherones was inducted into the Alabama Stage and Screen Hall of Fame in 2003, and he taught a film production course at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa from 2002-2014. In 2012, Cherones published his first novel, The Hardly Boys, a parody of the old Hardy Boys books.