Joseph Sargent

Joseph Sargent, born Giuseppe Danielle Sorgente, is a prolific film and television director. He started out as a Broadway chorus performer and actor before turning to directing. Among his many credits is Star Trek: The Original Series, for which he directed the first regular episode,. He has also directed episodes of such classic TV series as Bonanza, Gunsmoke, The Fugitive (1965, with William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols' son Kyle Johnson), The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and The Invaders.

Sargent has been nominated for several Emmy awards, and has won four. His first nomination came for his direction of the 1970 TV movie Tribes. His second nomination, for 1973's The Marcus-Nelson Murders, earned him his first win. This movie featured Star Trek: Deep Space Nine guest star Lawrence Pressman and TOS guest star Bill Zuckert in the cast. He also won Emmys for 1985's Love Is Never Silent, 1990's Caroline?, and 1992's Miss Rose White (with Thomas Kopache). He was also nominated for 1980's Amber Waves, 1999's A Lesson Before Dying, 2004's Something the Lord Made (with Gabrielle Union), and 2005's Warm Springs (with Matt Malloy).

Twenty five years after directing "The Corbomite Maneuver", Sargent reteamed with TOS actor Leonard Nimoy for the 1991 TV movie Never Forget. He also directed DS9 actress Louise Fletcher in 1989's The Karen Carpenter Story, actress Alfre Woodard in 1997's Miss Evers' Boys, and frequent Star Trek guest actress Fionnula Flanagan in 2000's For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story. Other TV movies he directed include Sunshine (1973, with Cliff DeYoung, Meg Foster, Bill Mumy, and Noble Willingham), Terrible Joe Moran (1984, with James Cagney giving his final performance, as well as Lawrence Tierney,) Day One (1989, with David Ogden Stiers), and Out of the Ashes (2003, with Bruce Davison).

Sargent also has several feature films to his credit, most notably the 1970 science fiction classic Colossus: The Forbin Project, featuring TOS guest actors William Schallert, Willard Sage, and Byron Morrow. He also directed Trek alumni Robert DoQui, Gilbert Green, Vince Howard, Janet MacLachlan, Barry Russo, Garry Walberg, and William Windom in the 1972 drama The Man. Other films he directed include The Hell with Heroes (1968, with William Marshall and Sid Haig), White Lightning (1973), The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974, with Bill Cobbs), MacArthur (1977, with Kenneth Tobey and Garry Walberg), and Jaws: The Revenge (1987).

He has been married to actress Carolyn Nelson since 1970, and has directed her in several of his projects, including the aforementioned The Marcus-Nelson Murders and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.

The Star Trek production staff was well-satisfied with Sargent's work, and tried to bring him back to direct further episodes, but he was not available, as he already started to "aim higher" and direct TV-movies and feature films. (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story) Sargent was a personal friend of Grace Lee Whitney. (The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, p. 89)