Television director Charles S. Dubin died 5 September 2011. Born Charles Samuel Dubronevski on 1 February 1919 in Brooklyn, New York, he won a Daytime Emmy Award and Directors Guild of America Award, and was nominated for another Daytime Emmy, three other DGA Awards, and three Emmy Awards.
After graduating from Brooklyn College in 1941, he studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse, performed comedy and drama in the Catskills, and appeared in opera in Philadelphia. He also had small parts in three Broadway plays.
In the early 1950s, The New York Times notes, he “helped shape early television by directing shows like Tales of Tomorrow, a science fiction anthology series, [he directed six episodes in 1951 and 1952], and Two Girls Named Smith, a comedy series starring Peggy Ann Garner.”
In 1958, the Times says, “he was subpoenaed to appear before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, which was investigating show-business figures for possible Communist ties. Mr. Dubin said he was not a Communist and 22 times refused to say whether he had ever been one, citing constitutional protections against self-incrimination.” He was not cited, but NBC fired him anyway. He worked on commercials for a while, but returned to television in 1961, and his career grew. He became most closely associated with M*A*S*H, for which he directed 44 episodes (more than any other director, three of which were nominated for Emmys), including the 1979 episode “Are You Now, Margaret?”, in which a congressional investigates Major Houlihan for Communist ties.
His genre work includes: two episodes of Starman (1986), Small & Frye (1983), Topper (1979), Tabitha (1977), Man from Atlantis (1977), Death in Space (1974), Circle of Fear (1973), and the Rodgers & Hammerstein television production of Cinderella (1965).
His first marriage ended in divorce. He is survived by his daughter and his second wife.