Walter Doniger wanted to be a physicist. But as a student at Duke University, he took a life changing course titled “Modern English Drama”. The professor teaching the class told Doniger he had a future in writing. Doniger was skeptical. After graduating from Duke, he enrolled in Harvard’s Graduate School of Business.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to him, Doniger’s professor submitted samples of his writing to the story editor of Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer Studios in Hollywood. Doniger soon found himself in California writing scripts for small budget movies. He went on to a long career as a writer, director, and producer.
Doniger directed more than 180 episodes of the television series Peyton Place over four years in the 1960s. He called himself a tough director because of the performance he demanded from the film crew and actors. Among Doniger’s many other television and film credits are The Virginian and Tokyo Joe.
See scripts, photographs and more in the Walter Doniger papers at UW’s American Heritage Center.