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Lee H. Katzin

Lee H. Katzin

Directing

Biography

Lee H. Katzin (April 12, 1935 – October 30, 2002) was an American film director. He was born in Detroit, Michigan and became a TV director in the late 1960s for TV shows that included Bonanza, Mission: Impossible and Police Story. He also directed the 1971 feature film Le Mans. Starting in 1969, he did an array of theatrical films starting with Heaven with a Gun and other films like The Break and the cult classic What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? In 1972, he directed the film The Salzburg Connection, which starred Barry Newman and Anna Karina. In 1975, he directed the launch episode "Breakaway", and other early episodes, of the Gerry Anderson live-action series Space: 1999. He also directed the pilots for the television series Man from Atlantis and Spenser: For Hire. He was primarily known as a prolific episodic television director, and he worked on series such as MacGyver, Police Story, The Young Riders, and Mission Impossible.

Known For

Mission: Impossible
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Mission: Impossible is an American television series that was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicles the missions of a team of secret government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force. In the first season, the team is led by Dan Briggs, played by Steven Hill; Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, takes charge for the remaining seasons. A hallmark of the series shows Briggs or Phelps receiving his instructions on a recording that then self-destructs, followed by the theme music composed by Lalo Schifrin. The series aired on the CBS network from September 1966 to March 1973, then returned to television for two seasons on ABC, from 1988 to 1990, retaining only Graves in the cast. It later inspired a popular series of theatrical motion pictures starring Tom Cruise, beginning in 1996.

Mission: Impossible

1966Series