Richard C. Sarafian

Richard Caspar Sarafian (April 28, 1930 – September 18, 2013) was an American television and film director and actor.[2] He compiled a versatile career that spanned over five decades as a director, actor, and writer. Sarafian is best known as the director of the 1971 film Vanishing Point.[3][4]
== Biography ==
Sarafian was born in New York City on April 28, 1930, to Armenian immigrants.[1]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.[5] 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.[6][4]
Sarafian worked with Altman on industrial films and married Altman's sister, Helen Joan Altman. He also acted in a local play Altman directed.[6] His television career began in the early 1960s in Kansas City as Altman's assistant.[5][6] Sarafian soon began to direct television shows himself, and in 1963 scored one of his greatest 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, which followed the action-packed adventures of a man driving a white Dodge Challenger from Denver, Colorado, to San Francisco, California, in 15 hours; critics disliked the movie but it became a cult hit.[6]
Besides The Twilight Zone, Sarafian's directing credits on television included episodes of the television series 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 and a hitman in Bulworth in 1998, and in 2001 he voiced the animated God Beaver character in Dr. Dolittle 2.[6] On television, he played a coffee shop owner as a regular member of the cast of the 1985-1986 CBS situation comedy Foley Square, starring Margaret Colin.[7][8]
== Personal life ==
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.[6][9]
== Death ==
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.[6][10]
== Filmography ==
=== Actor ===
==== Film ====
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1956	The Magic Bond 	 	Short film
1976	The Next Man 	Gregory Zolnikov 	Uncredited / Also director
1984	Songwriter 	Rodeo Rocky 	
1987	Street Justice 	Taxi Driver 	Also director
1989	To Die For 	Bartender 	
1991	Bugsy 	Jack Dragna 	
1992	Ruby 	Proby 	
1993	Gunmen 	Chief Chavez 	
1994	Roadflower 	Trucker 	
1995	Don Juan DeMarco 	Detective Sy Tobias	
1995	The Crossing Guard 	Sunny Ventura 	
1996	Bound 	Gino Marzzone 	
1998	Bulworth 	Vinnie 	
1999	Blink of an Eye 	Erlik 	
1999	Blue Streak 	Uncle Lou 	
2000	Picking Up the Pieces	Wino 	
2001	Dr. Dolittle 2 	God Beaver 	Voice
2002	Hitters 	 	
2003	Masked and Anonymous 	President 	
2007	Reeling 	Teeth 	Short film / Voice
==== Television ====
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1985–1986	Foley Square 	Spiro Papadopolis	14 episodes
1986 	Long Time Gone 	Omar 	Television film
1986 	Liberty 	Philbert Evans 	Television film / Also director
1989 	Wiseguy 	 	Episode: "Le Lacrime D'Amore: Part 2"
1990 	MacGyver 	Caspar Kasabian 	Episode: "Bitter Harvest"
1993 	Sex, Love and Cold Hard Cash	Abe 	Television film / Uncredited
1996 	Miami Hustle 	Henry Kronfeld 	Television film
1996 	Gotti 	Paul Castellano 	Television film
1997 	Michael Hayes 	Restaurant Owner 	Episode: "Retribution"
== Award ==
* Nominee, Gold Hugo, Best Feature Film - Chicago International Film Festival(The Next Man) (1976)