Barnet Kellman (born November 9, 1947) is an American theatre, television and film director,[2]television producer and film actor, and educator, best known for the premiere productions of new American plays, and for the pilots of long-running television series such as Murphy Brown and Mad About You. He is the recipient of two Emmy Awards and a Directors Guild of America Award.[3][4] He is the co-founder and director of USC Comedy at the School of Cinematic Arts, and holds the school's Robin Williams Endowed Chair in Comedy.[5]
Barnet Kellman was born in New York City,[1] and raised in suburban Long Island. His father was Joseph A. G. Kellman, an attorney, and his mother was Verona Kellman (née Kramer).[citation needed]
Kellman began as an actor, joining Actors' Equity at age nineteen. While still at Colgate, he was an assistant to director Alan Schneider on the Broadway production of Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance. In the 1970s, he was a mainstay on New York City's Off-Broadway. He directed productions in the early seasons of Playwrights Horizons, and the Manhattan Theatre Club.[8]
His WPA Theatre production of Key Exchange introduced playwright Kevin Wade and moved to the Orpheum Theatre for a year-long run, while his acclaimed Circle Rep production of Danny and the Deep Blue Sea introduced playwright John Patrick Shanley and actor John Turturro. For Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival, he directed the works of David Rabe and William Hauptman. He was an Associate Director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival and, for ten years, a regular director at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center's National Playwrights Conference associated with works by Shanley, Lee Blessing and Richard Dresser. His Hudson Guild production of Lee Kalcheim's Breakfast with Les and Bess had a long run at the Lambs Theatre. Other notable premieres include plays by Israel Horovitz and Donald Margulies. He is a past board member of the Society of Directors and Choreographers.[9]
He directed the Showtime adaptation of the long-running Broadway play Gemini and the CBS special Orphans, Waifs and Wards. He made his feature film directorial debut with the 20th Century Fox screen adaptation of Key Exchange, which starred Brooke Adams.[10]
An opportunity to direct the pilot episodes of half-hour TV comedies brought Kellman to Los Angeles. In his first pilot season he mounted pilots starring George Segal, Oprah Winfrey, Patti LuPone and Kenneth McMillan. His second pilot season brought success when his pilots of The Robert Guillaume Show and Murphy Brown were picked up as series.[8][11] In 1999, Kellman directed the Murphy Brown finale episode, "Never Can Say Goodbye". He won Emmy Awards in 1990 and 1992 for his work.[1][6]
In 2008, during a Writers Guild strike, Kellman joined the film faculties of the American Film Institute and the University of Southern California (USC). In 2011, he was awarded tenure at USC and co-founded the school's groundbreaking comedy program, USC Comedy at the School of Cinematic Arts.[14] In 2017, USC named him inaugural holder of its Robin Williams Endowed Chair in Comedy.[15]
