Robert Butler

Robert Butler (born November 16, 1927) is an American film and Emmy Award-winning television director. He is best known for his work in television, where he directed the pilots for a number of series including Star Trek, Hogan's Heroes, Batman and Hill Street Blues. Career Butler graduated from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he majored in English. He was first in an army band, before his career as a stage manager and an assistant before launching his directing career with an episode of Hennesey (starring Jackie Cooper and including a young Ron Howard) and then went on to direct such shows as The Untouchables, Dr. Kildare, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Batman, The Fugitive and The Twilight Zone. Butler shot pilots for many TV series including the original Star Trek, Shane, Hogan's Heroes, Batman, The Blue Knight, Hill Street Blues, Remington Steele (a show which he also co-created), Moonlighting, Sisters, and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Butler has also directed episodes for many other shows, including Bonanza, I Spy, Blue Light, The Invaders, Gunsmoke, The Outcasts, Mission: Impossible, Kung Fu, Hawaii Five-O, Columbo: Publish or Perish, Columbo: Double Shock, and Midnight Caller.