Star Trek has lost a director from The Original Series, Marvin Chomsky
Marvin J. Chomsky, who began his directing career with shows like The Doctors and the Nurses in 1964 before moving on to Star Trek and two episodes of the outstanding 1977 series, Roots, has died at 92. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chomsky’s last directing and producing credit was for the 1995 film Catherine the Great which starred Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Chomsky directed three episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series, including the much-maligned “And the Children Shall Lead,” “The Day of the Dove,” and one of the best time traveling episodes of Star Trek, “All Our Yesterdays,” which has consistently been ranked as one of the top ten essential Star Trek episodes that featured Mr. Spock as well as one of the best episodes of Star Trek overall. It was also included in a 2018 binge-watching guide by Den of Geek, which recommended the episode for the way it featured Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Dr. McCoy.
After Star Trek, Marvin Chomsky went on to win four Emmys.
After helming episodes of Star Trek, Chomsky moved on to mini-series and television films, four of which earned him Emmys. Those included the 1978 miniseries Holocaust, the 1980 television movie, Attica, the 1982 television movie Inside the Third Reich and the 1986 miniseries Peter the Great.
Chomsky’s son, Peter, who is a prolific producer of such series as the original Charmed, Dead to Me, and Deputy, told Deadline that his father had passed away in his sleep, giving no additional details. Along with Peter, Chomsky is survived by two other sons, David and Eric, his daughter-in-law Genelle and granddaughter Liliana.
Our heartfelt condolences go out to Mr. Chomsky’s family.