Reza Badiyi

Art media — 19 November 2010

Reza Badiyi was born in Arak, Iran on April 17, 1930. He is the father of Mina Badie and the stepfather of Jennifer Jason Leigh. Badiyi is well known for directing episodes of many popular (and quite distinct) television series.

Early in his career, he directed episodes of Get Smart, Mission: Impossible, Hawaii Five-O, The Incredible Hulk, Mannix, The Six Million Dollar Man, Starsky and Hutch, The Rockford Files and Police Squad!. His credits also include developing the memorable opening montages for Hawaii Five-O and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He also directed the definitive “fashion show” sequence of the third season of the popular “Doris Day Show”. There were lowlights, as well, including directing the unsold pilot for “Inside O.U.T.”, starring Farrah Fawcett and a chimp for Colombia/Screen Gems in 1971.

In the 1980s and 1990s, he directed episodes of Falcon Crest, Cagney and Lacey, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the episode “Out of Mind, Out of Sight“), Nikita, Sliders and Baywatch.

In October 2008 Reza Badiyi received the Lifetime Achievement Award (Persian Golden Lioness)in dramatic arts from The World Academy of Arts Literature and Media – WAALM In May 2010 Reza Badiyi was honored at UCLA for his 80th birthday and his 60th year in the entertainment industry.

Famous Works

CREDITS
Film Work
Assistant director, The Delinquents, 1957
(As Raza Badiyi) Assistant director, Carnival of Souls, 1962
Associate producer, Terror at Black Falls, 1962
Director, Death of a Stranger, Delta Commerz, 1972
Director, Trader Horn, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1973
Executive producer, The First of May, First of May Film, 2000
Television Director
Movies
The Eyes of Charles Sand, ABC, 1972
(With others) Faraday and Company, NBC, 1973
Of Mice and Men, NBC, 1981
The Big Black Pill, NBC, 1981
Murder 1, Dancer 0 (also known as Joe Dancer III and Lights, Camera … Murder), NBC, 1983
White Water Rebels, CBS, 1983
Policewoman Centerfold, NBC, 1983
Blade in Hong Kong, CBS, 1985
In the Heat of the Night: A Matter of Justice, 1994
Eye of the Stalker, 1995
Cagney & Lacey: Together Again, 1995
Television Work
Other; Movies
Assistant producer, Nightmare in Chicago (also known as Once upon a Savage Night), 1964
Miniseries
Director, Trade Winds, 1993
Television Director
Pilots
The Eyes of Charles Sand, ABC, 1972
Modesty Blaise, ABC, 1982
Inside O.U.T., CBS, 1984
Dangerous Curves, CBS, 1992
Episodic
Get Smart, NBC, 1965-1969 CBS, 1969-1970
Mission: Impossible, CBS, 1966-1973
He and She, CBS, 1967-1968
N.Y.P.D., ABC, 1967-1969
Mannix, CBS, 1967-1975