Gene Reynolds - Behind The Scenes Career

Behind The Scenes Career

In 1957, Reynolds joined forces with Frank Gruber and James Brooks to create Tales of Wells Fargo for NBC. During the program's five-year run he wrote and directed numerous episodes. Additional directing credits include multiple episodes of Leave It to Beaver, The Andy Griffith Show, The Farmer's Daughter, F Troop, Hogan's Heroes, Room 222, and Many Happy Returns.

As a writer, director, and producer, Reynolds was involved with two highly successful CBS series in the 1970s and early 1980s. Between 1972 and 1983, he produced 121 episodes of M*A*S*H, for which he wrote eleven episodes and directed twenty-four. During that same period, he produced twenty episodes of Lou Grant, for which he wrote (or co-wrote) four episodes and directed eleven.

Reynolds has been nominated for twenty-four Emmy Awards and won six times, including Outstanding Comedy Series for M*A*S*H and Outstanding Drama Series twice for Lou Grant, which also earned him a Humanitas Prize. He won the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Direction of a Comedy Series twice for his work on M*A*S*H and the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Direction of a Drama Series once for his work on Lou Grant.

Reynolds was elected President of the Directors Guild of America in 1993, a post he held for four years until 1997.