Boris Sagal

Russian-born TV director was a television and film director of surprisingly bleak dramas including "Destiny of a Spy" (1969), "The Movie Murderer," "Hauser's Memory" (both 1970), and "The Dream Makers" (1975) in which there are no happy endings.

Sagal first began directing TV episodes in the mid-1950s with such series as "Johnny Staccato," "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" and "Twilight Zone" and helmed his first feature in 1963. He directed the mini-series "Rich Man, Poor Man" with David Greene.

Sagal was killed in a bizarre accident when he walked into a moving helicopter blade while scouting locations for a film.