Richard C. Sarafian

• Name — Richard C. Sarafian • Birth Name — Richard Caspar Sarafian • Born — 28 April 1930 • Birthplace — New York City, New York, U.S. • Died — 18 September 2013 • Place of death — Santa Monica, California, U.S. • Education — New York University • Occupation — Film director, writer, actor • Years Active — 1952–2007 • Spouse — Helen Joan Altman • Children — 5, including Deran and Tedi

Sarafian was born in New York City on April 28, 1930, to Armenian immigrants. He studied pre-law and pre-med at New York University and was a poor student, but changed over to studying film, at which he excelled. He left college to join the United States Army, in which he served as a reporter for an Army news service. While stationed in Kansas City, Missouri during the Korean War (1950–1953) he met the future Hollywood director Robert Altman, and the two became friends. Sarafian worked with Altman on industrial films and married Altmans sister, Helen Joan Altman. He also acted in a local play Altman directed. His television career began in the early 1960s in Kansas City as Altmans assistant. Sarafian soon began to direct television shows, and in 1963, he scored one of his great successes as director of the "Living Doll" episode of The Twilight Zone. His first feature film was Andy in 1965. His greatest success as a feature film director came with Vanishing Point, an existential road movie that followed a man driving a white Dodge Challenger from Denver to San Francisco in 15 hours; critics disliked the movie, but it became a cult hit. Besides The Twilight Zone, Sarafians directing credits on television included episodes of Gunsmoke and Batman. In addition to Andy and Vanishing Point, he directed a number of feature films, including Run Wild, Run Free in 1969, Man in the Wilderness in 1971, and The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing in 1973. In his film acting career, he played a gangster in Bugsy in 1991, Paul Castellano in Gotti, and a hitman in Bulworth in 1998, and in 2001 he voiced the animated God Beaver character in Dr. Dolittle 2. On television, he played a coffee shop owner as a regular member of the cast of the 1985–1986 sitcom Foley Square.

Sarafian and Helen Altman Sarafian married, divorced, and remarried; she died in 2011. They had five children, including actor Richard Sarafian Jr., actor/director Deran Sarafian, special effects expert Damon B. Sarafian, screenwriter Tedi Sarafian, and Catherine Sarafian.

Sarafian died at the age of 83 in Santa Monica, California, on September 18, 2013, of pneumonia, which he contracted while recovering from a broken back.

Director • Year — Title — Notes • 1961 — Maverick — episode: "The Forbidden City" • Bronco — episode: "Guns of the Lawless" • Surfside 6 — episode: "Count Seven!" • The Roaring 20's — episode: "Blondes Prefer Gentlemen" • 1961–1962 — Lawman — 22 episodes • Cheyenne — 2 episodes • 1962 — Hawaiian Eye — 2 episodes • 1962–1963 — The Dakotas — 3 episodes • The Gallant Men — 9 episodes • 77 Sunset Strip — 3 episodes • 1963 — Redigo — episode: "Lady War-Bonnet" • The Great Adventure — episode: "Six Wagons to the Sea" • The Twilight Zone — episode: "Living Doll" • Bonanza — episode: "The Waiting Game" • 1963–1965 — Ben Casey — 3 episodes • 1964 — Dr. Kildare — episode: "An Exchange of Gifts" • 1965 — Slattery's People — 4 episodes • The Wild Wild West — 2 episodes • Convoy — episode: "Lady on the Rock" • The Long, Hot Summer — episode: "Home Is a Nameless Place" • The Big Valley — episode: "Winner Lose All" • The Wackiest Ship in the Army — episode: "The Stowaway" • 1965–1968 — Gunsmoke — 4 episodes • 1966 — The Trials of O'Brien — episode: "Alarums and Excursions" • Batman — 2 episodes • Jericho — 5 episodes • The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. — episode: "The Romany Lie Affair" • 1966–1968 — I Spy — 8 episodes • 1967 — Iron Horse — episode: "Consignment, Betsy the Boiler" • The Guns of Will Sonnett — 3 episodes • Cimarron Strip — episode: "The Battle of Bloody Stones" • 1967–1968 — The Danny Thomas Hour — 2 episodes • 1968 — Premiere • 1975 — Doctors' Hospital — episode: "One of Our Own" • 1981 — The Gangster Chronicles — miniseries • Shannon — 2 episodes • 1982 — The Mississippi — episode: "The Mississippi" • 1985 — Wildside — 3 episodes • 1990 — Zorro — episode: "Zorro: The Legend Continues" (unaired TV pilot) Actor • Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1985–1986 — Foley Square — Spiro Papadopolis — 14 episodes • 1989 — Wiseguy — episode: "Le Lacrime D'Amore: Part 2" • 1990 — MacGyver — Caspar Kasabian — episode: "Bitter Harvest" • 1997 — Michael Hayes — Restaurant Owner — episode: "Retribution"

Director • Shadow on the Land (1968) • One of Our Own (1975) • The African Queen (1977) • A Killing Affair (1977) • Disaster on the Coastliner (1977) • The Golden Moment: An Olympic Love Story (1980) • Splendor in the Grass (1981) • Liberty (1986) Actor • Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1986 — Long Time Gone — Omar • Liberty — Philbert Evans • 1993 — Sex, Love and Cold Hard Cash — Abe — Uncredited • 1996 — Miami Hustle — Henry Kronfeld • Gotti — Paul Castellano

The authorities additionally record the heading Richard Caspar Sarafian. His recorded language was English. 2 children are recorded: Tedi Sarafian and Deran Sarafian.