Reza Badiyi

Reza Sayed Badiyi (Persian: رضا بدیعی; April 17, 1930 – August 20, 2011) was an Iranian-American film director. Badiyi also directed episodes of many popular television series. His credits also include developing the opening montages for Hawaii Five-O, Get Smart, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Contents [show] Early life and education[edit] Badiyi was born April 17, 1930, in Arak, Iran. His parents were from Isfahan. He graduated from the Academy of Drama in Iran. He moved to the United States in 1955. He graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in film making.

Career[edit] After Syracuse University, Badiyi often worked with Robert Altman. Badiyi was assistant director on the low-budget 1957 film "The Delinquents," which marked Altman's feature film debut as a director, and also the cult classic horror film Carnival of Souls, made in 1962.

Early in his career, he directed episodes of Get Smart, Mission: Impossible, Hawaii Five-O, The Incredible Hulk, Mannix, The Six Million Dollar Man, Starsky and Hutch, The Rockford Files and Police Squad!. He also directed the definitive "fashion show" sequence of the third season of the popular "Doris Day Show". There were lowlights, as well, including directing the unsold pilot for "Inside O.U.T.", starring Farrah Fawcett and a chimp for Columbia/Screen Gems in 1971.

In the 1980s and 1990s, he directed episodes of Falcon Crest, Cagney and Lacey, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Le Femme Nikita, Sliders and Baywatch.

Awards[edit] On May 2010, Badiyi was honored at UCLA for his 80th birthday and his 60th year in the entertainment industry. In 2009, he was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Noor Iranian Film Festival in Los Angeles, and after his passing in 2011, the festival gave the award his namesake.