Life and Career
He was born William Gerald Grossman in San Francisco, California. After having directed some Van Dyke show episodes, Paris devoted himself to directing, both in television and film, most notably on the TV series Happy Days, for which he directed over 200 episodes.
Paris had roles in major 1950s films like The Caine Mutiny, The Wild One and also played Martin "Marty" Flaharty, one of Eliot Ness's men in a recurring role in the first season of ABC-TV's The Untouchables.
He married the former Ruth Benjamin, and they had three children. She died in 1980. Paris died of complications from brain cancer surgery at the age of 60. He was residing in Los Angeles, California, at the time of his death.
In the 1990s sitcom The Nanny, Fran Fine's grandmother Yetta Rosenberg played by Ann Morgan Guilbert showed a photo of Paris briefly and claimed it was her late husband. Guilbert played Millie Helper on The Dick Van Dyke Show.
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