Burt Brinckerhoff

Burton Field Brinckerhoff was born on October 25, 1936, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and grew up initially in Ben Avon, Pennsylvania. His father, the Reverend Dr. James Howard Brinckerhoff (1883–1957), served as minister of the Ben Avon Presbyterian Church, and his mother, Marion Russell Field Brinckerhoff (1903–1997), held the position of Director of Christian Education at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. The family relocated to New York City when Brinckerhoff was five years old. He developed an interest in acting during his years at Horace Mann School, where he participated in a senior class play, and went on to perform in summer stock theatre following graduation.

Brinckerhoff established himself as a stage and television actor in the late 1950s. He made his Broadway debut in 1958 in the comedy Blue Denim, the same year he appeared in the film The Goddess. During the 1950s he also accumulated television credits across multiple anthology series, including several appearances on Kraft Television Theatre and episodes of Armstrong Circle Theatre. He served in the U.S. Army National Guard in 1959 and married Zina Jasper on December 26 of that year; the couple divorced in 1986.

Throughout the 1960s, Brinckerhoff continued working in both television and theatre. His television appearances during the decade included episodes of Naked City in 1960 and 1961, Route 66 in 1960, Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1961, The Fugitive in 1963, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. in 1964, Gunsmoke and Combat! in 1965, 12 O'Clock High in 1965, and a five-episode story arc on Dr. Kildare in 1965. He also appeared as Dr. Bill Prentice on The Doctors in May and June of 1968. His film work in the decade included The Greatest Story Ever Told in 1965. On Broadway, his credits extended through 1967 and included Keep It in the Family and Cactus Flower, in which he played the role of Igor. His performance in Cactus Flower, which ran from 1965 to 1968, earned him a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play in 1966. Lauren Bacall, in her memoir, cited his work in that production and described him as a good actor.

Brinckerhoff transitioned into directing for television, accumulating a substantial body of work across multiple decades. He directed the pilots for Three's Company, PBS/Two Hour Specials, and PBS Playhouse, as well as television movies and miniseries including Steambath, The Cracker Factory, Brave New World, and The Hamptons. He directed the 1991 A&E production It's Called the Sugar Plum, starring Fisher Stevens and Ione Skye. His episodic directing credits span a wide range of series, among them Baretta from 1975 to 1977, Scarecrow and Mrs. King from 1985 to 1987, Moonlighting, Remington Steele, Magnum P.I., Another Day, Newhart, ABC's 9 to 5 from 1982 to 1983, NBC's ALF from 1987 to 1989, Matlock from 1990 to 1991, Beverly Hills 90210, Touched by an Angel, and Promised Land from 1996 to 1997. He directed 27 episodes of the WB series 7th Heaven between 1996 and 2002.

Brinckerhoff received significant recognition for his directing work. He was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Directing in 1974 for the episode "The Mask of Love" from the anthology series The ABC Afternoon Playbreak. He subsequently received three consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, from 1979 to 1981, for the Lou Grant episodes "Schools," "Hollywood," and "Pack." His most recent acting credit was in the television film Crime of the Century in 1996.