William Asher
William Asher (born
8 August 1921) is an American producer, director and writer.
Born in
New York City, his mother was actress
Lillian Bonner and his father was
Jewish American producer
E.M. Asher (who produced films for
Mack Sennett).
His more famous works includes directing episodes of The
Colgate Comedy Hour (1950),
I Love Lucy (1951),
Our Miss Brooks (1952),
General Electric Theater (1953),
Make Room for Daddy (1953),
December Bride (1954),
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1956),
The Twilight Zone (1959),
The Patty Duke Show (1963),
Gidget (1965),
The Dukes of Hazzard (1979) and
Private Benjamin (1981).
In addition to the popular
I Love Lucy show, Asher produced and directed
Bewitched, which ran for eight years (1964 to 1972) and still runs in syndication today. He married the show's star,
Elizabeth Montgomery in 1963 (and they divorced in 1973 after having 3 children together).
His films include writing and directing the popular beach movies starring
Annette Funicello and
Frankie Avalon -
Muscle Beach Party (1964),
Bikini Beach (1964), and
Beach Blanket Bingo (1965).
His family continues on in show business. His son,
John Mallory Asher (married to
Jenny McCarthy) starred in
Weird Science (as Gary) and then directed
Hilary Swank in
Kounterfeit. He continued his directorial endeavors with
Diamonds, starring
Kirk Douglas,
Dan Aykroyd,
Lauren Bacall and
Jenny McCarthy.
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William Asher on
Internet Movie Database
