Elliot Silverstein, The Twilight Zone and Cat Ballou Director, Dies at 96

Elliot Silverstein, a beloved director whose work included Cat Ballou, The Car, and multiple episodes of The Twilight Zone, has passed away at the age of 96. The news was confirmed via a statement from his family, revealing that he passed away on Friday, November 23rd in Los Angeles. Born on August 3, 1927 in Boston, Massachusetts, Silverstein attended Yale University to pursue directing, ultimately working on multiple productions at Brandeis University. His work then included productions of Omnibus, the educational series that aired in the 1950s, as well as a short-lived Broadway production of Maybe Tuesday.

Silverstein then pivoted towards episodic television, working on The U.S. Steel Hour, Suspicion, The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen, Route 66, Have Gun — Will Travel, Naked City, Dr. Kildare, and The Defenders. He helmed four episodes of the original run of The Twilight Zone — 1961's "The Obsolete Man" and "The Passerby", 1962's "The Trade-Ins", and 1964's "Spur of the Moment". His work on the series, and particularly on "The Obsolete Man", inspired him to push the Directors Guild of America to create their Bill of Creative Rights. The bill included a number of provisions that have impacted the industry ever since, including the official definition of a Director's Cut. 

"I'm very proud of the legacy," Silverstein explained in a 2018 interview with NoFilmSchool. "I think it really defined, to a very large extent, what the Director's Guild of America is, apart from its role as a trade union. I am proud of having left the creative rights concept and the specifics associated with it. I'm very proud of that. I don't know how to describe it, but early on, the corporate influence on a given piece of work was much stronger than it is now. Directors had very few defined rights to protect the work. For instance, the initial version of the contract between directors and producers read something like this, "The director shall have the right to view," the word "view" was important, "the first rough cut," whatever that was, "and to make any suggestions he had to the associate producer," whoever that was. The roles have changed since those days. That tells you that it was further down the line. He didn't have firsthand control. My first task was to establish what suggestions meant and who the associate producer was and why it'd have to be the associate producer instead of the producer and why the director didn't have primary influence over the material that they directed, subject only to the labor laws, which gave the corporation ultimate control."

Silverstein went on to direct Cat Ballou, the 1965 Western led by Lee Marvin and Jane Fonda, which ultimately helped Marvin score an Oscar for Best Actor. His later work included 1967's The Happening, and 1977's The Car. Before retiring, he directed episodes of Picket Fences and Tales From the Crypt.

Silverstein was married three times, and was briefly the stepfather of singer and actor David Cassidy. 

Our thoughts are with Silverstein's family, friends, and fans at this time.