William Milton Asher (August 8, 1921 – July 16, 2012) was an American television and film producer, film director, and screenwriter. He was one of the most prolific early television directors, producing or directing over two dozen series. With television in its infancy, he introduced the sitcom Our Miss Brooks, which was adapted from a radio show. He began directing I Love Lucy by 1952. As a result of his early success, Asher was considered an "early wunderkind of TV-land," and was hyperbolically credited in one magazine article with "inventing" the sitcom. In 1964, he began to direct episodes of Bewitched, which starred his wife Elizabeth Montgomery. He produced the series from the fourth season. He was nominated for an Emmy Award four times, winning once for directing Bewitched in 1966. He was also nominated for the DGA Award in 1951 for I Love Lucy. In 1951, he married actress Danny Sue Nolan, with whom he had two children; the couple divorced in 1961. He then married actress Elizabeth Montgomery in 1963, just before Bewitched began its run. They had three children and divorced in 1973. His third marriage was to actress Joyce Bulifant and it lasted from 1976 to 1993. He adopted her son, actor and director John Mallory Asher. This marriage also ended in divorce. In 1998, he married Meredith Coffin Asher, his fourth and final wife. Description above from the Wikipedia article William Asher, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
William Asher has 38 screen credits in a career dating back to 1948. Their work is anchored in the Beach Party Collection universe with 4 titles. Signature works include Johnny Cool, Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker, I Dream of Jeannie... Fifteen Years Later. Explore the interactive character relationship maps on each title page to trace how their roles connect across franchises.
