Barnet Kellman

Barnet Kellman (born November 9, 1947) is an American theatre, television and film director,

Early life and education Barnet Kellman was born in New York City, on a Danforth Graduate Fellowship. As a Thomas J. Watson Fellow, he studied theater and film in Europe

His WPA Theatre production of Key Exchange introduced playwright Kevin Wade and moved to the Orpheum Theatre for a year-long run, while his acclaimed Circle Rep production of Danny and the Deep Blue Sea introduced playwright John Patrick Shanley and actor John Turturro. For Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival, he directed the works of David Rabe and William Hauptman. He was an Associate Director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival and, for ten years, a regular director at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center's National Playwrights Conference associated with works by Shanley, Lee Blessing and Richard Dresser. His Hudson Guild production of Lee Kalcheim's Breakfast with Les and Bess had a long run at the Lambs Theatre. Other notable premieres include plays by Israel Horovitz and Donald Margulies. He is a past board member of the Society of Directors and Choreographers.

Film and television Kellman got his start in the early 1980s as a director for soap operas such as the NBC-TV daytime soap opera series Another World and CBS's As the World Turns.

An opportunity to direct the pilot episodes of half-hour TV comedies brought Kellman to Los Angeles. In his first pilot season he mounted pilots starring George Segal, Oprah Winfrey, Patti LuPone and Kenneth McMillan. His second pilot season brought success when his pilots of The Robert Guillaume Show and Murphy Brown were picked up as series. In 1999, Kellman directed the Murphy Brown finale episode, "Never Can Say Goodbye". He won Emmy Awards in 1990 and 1992 for his work.

When Murphy Brown returned to the CBS schedule for an eleventh season in 2018, Kellman returned to direct the season finale.

Teaching career In 2008, during a Writers Guild strike, Kellman joined the film faculties of the American Film Institute and the University of Southern California (USC). In 2011, he was awarded tenure at USC and co-founded the school's groundbreaking comedy program, USC Comedy at the School of Cinematic Arts. In 2017, USC named him inaugural holder of its Robin Williams Endowed Chair in Comedy.

Awards and nominations

Primetime Emmy Award: Outstanding Direction of a Comedy Series, Murphy Brown, 1992 Primetime Emmy Award: Best Comedy, Murphy Brown – Producer, 1990 Monitor Award: Best Director, Pepsi – To The Victors, 1985 Primetime Emmy Nomination: Outstanding Direction of a Comedy Series, Murphy Brown, 1991 Emmy Nomination: Outstanding Direction of a Comedy Series, Murphy Brown, 1989 Primetime Emmy Nomination: Outstanding Direction of a Comedy Series, Murphy Brown, 1988 Daytime Emmy Nomination: Best Direction, Another World, 1981

Selected filmography

Director Samantha Who? Notes from the Underbelly Four Kings Living with Fran George Lopez Alias Mary and Rhoda Felicity Good Advice Murphy Brown ER Bless This House Slappy and the Stinkers Mad About You Straight Talk Designing Women Another World True Jackson, VP