Leonard J. Horn (August 1, 1926 â€" May 25, 1975) was a director of US
prime time television programs in the 1960s and 1970s, and helped
shape a number of “classic†adventure and sci-fi series, including
Mission: Impossible, Mannix, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and
Wonder Woman. Contemporary fan-sites such as the viewer polling pages
of the Internet Movie Database (hereafter IMDB) and TV.com show
Horn’s work to have stood the test of time; many of the 94 episodes
he directed for 34 prime-time television series rank among the more
popular moments in the first “Golden Age of Television†.Horn was
born in Bangor, Maine. He started directing in 1959-1962 for Alfred
Hitchcock Presents and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, and was soon among a
stable of directors working on such popular prime-time programs as The
Untouchables, Route 66, and The Fugitive. Horn’s most sustained
contribution to one series was directing ten episodes of Mission:
Impossible, including five in the first season. His “Operation
Rogosh†(1966), the series’ 3rd episode, ties among IMDB voters
for the most popular first-season show, and most of his other efforts
get high marks. In one of Horn’s second-season episodes, “Trek†,
Peter Graves appeared for the first time as “Mr. Phelps†.Horn was
responsible for a number of classic TV pilots. In 1967, he directed
the first episode of Mannix (“My Name is Mannix†), written by
Bruce Geller, the creator and producer of Mission: Impossible. Half of
the images for the show’s subsequently-famous opening montage derive
from this production. Horn directed an additional seven episodes for
the series. Also in 1967, he directed the second pilot for the series
Ironside (“Split Second to an Epitaph†). His last pilot, and final
television production, was for the series Wonder Woman in 1975, and
was nominated for an Emmy in graphic design and title sequencing.Along
with adventure, science-fiction was among Horn’s most successful
genres. Of three first-season episodes he directed for The Outer
Limits, two are ranked in the top ten by IMDB users, and one, “The
Man Who Was Never Born†is considered among the series’ classics.
Horn’s single Lost in Space entry (“Invaders from the 5th
Dimension†) likewise makes the IMDB top ten of the series’
first-season episodes. In the premier season of Voyage to the Bottom
of the Sea, the four most popular episodes among IMDB users were all
directed by Horn, with “The Fear-Makers†called by one user “the
first truly great episode†.
prime time television programs in the 1960s and 1970s, and helped
shape a number of “classic†adventure and sci-fi series, including
Mission: Impossible, Mannix, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and
Wonder Woman. Contemporary fan-sites such as the viewer polling pages
of the Internet Movie Database (hereafter IMDB) and TV.com show
Horn’s work to have stood the test of time; many of the 94 episodes
he directed for 34 prime-time television series rank among the more
popular moments in the first “Golden Age of Television†.Horn was
born in Bangor, Maine. He started directing in 1959-1962 for Alfred
Hitchcock Presents and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, and was soon among a
stable of directors working on such popular prime-time programs as The
Untouchables, Route 66, and The Fugitive. Horn’s most sustained
contribution to one series was directing ten episodes of Mission:
Impossible, including five in the first season. His “Operation
Rogosh†(1966), the series’ 3rd episode, ties among IMDB voters
for the most popular first-season show, and most of his other efforts
get high marks. In one of Horn’s second-season episodes, “Trek†,
Peter Graves appeared for the first time as “Mr. Phelps†.Horn was
responsible for a number of classic TV pilots. In 1967, he directed
the first episode of Mannix (“My Name is Mannix†), written by
Bruce Geller, the creator and producer of Mission: Impossible. Half of
the images for the show’s subsequently-famous opening montage derive
from this production. Horn directed an additional seven episodes for
the series. Also in 1967, he directed the second pilot for the series
Ironside (“Split Second to an Epitaph†). His last pilot, and final
television production, was for the series Wonder Woman in 1975, and
was nominated for an Emmy in graphic design and title sequencing.Along
with adventure, science-fiction was among Horn’s most successful
genres. Of three first-season episodes he directed for The Outer
Limits, two are ranked in the top ten by IMDB users, and one, “The
Man Who Was Never Born†is considered among the series’ classics.
Horn’s single Lost in Space entry (“Invaders from the 5th
Dimension†) likewise makes the IMDB top ten of the series’
first-season episodes. In the premier season of Voyage to the Bottom
of the Sea, the four most popular episodes among IMDB users were all
directed by Horn, with “The Fear-Makers†called by one user “the
first truly great episode†.
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