He was a familiar face on camera and a respected director behind the scenes. His name was Noam Pitlik, and he died in Los Angeles in 1999 at only 66 years old from lung cancer. This is his story.
A Closer Look
A multi-talented Hollywood professional, Noam Pitlik was born on November 4, 1932, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Pitlik later made his acting debut in a local Western TV show in Philadelphia.
In 1951, Pitlik became interested in the behind-the-scenes artistic crafts associated with art and set design and construction crew for the Philadelphia Experimental Theater.
One year later, he was cast in the Summer Theater Guild’s production of The Philadelphia Story, in Indiana, Pennsylvania.
By 1957, Pitlik was living in New York, where he starred in an Off-Broadway production of Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera.
Pitlik later transitions from acting in TV series like Mission: Impossible, Bewitched, Hogan’s Heroes, and The Bob Newhart Show to helming other shows such as Barney Miller, for which he won an Emmy.