Reza Badiyi
Reza Badiyi has died after a prolific career of directing top shows.
The 81 year old died on Saturday (20Aug11) at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Iranian-born Badiyi, whose credits include Get Smart, Mission: Impossible, Falcon Crest, Baywatch and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, set a Directors Guild of America record in 1998 for directing the most hours of episodic series television after completing his 400th TV episode, according to the Los Angeles Times.
He launched his filmmaking career in his native Iran, where he was also a celebrated actor, before moving to the U.S. in 1955.
His last credit as a director was for the 2006 film The Way Back Home.
Badiyi was once married to actress and writer Barbara Turner and he was stepfather to actress Jennifer Jason Leigh.