Don Scardino

Don Scardino is an American actor, director, producer, and composer born on February 17, 1949, in New York City. The son of jazz musicians Dorothy Denny Scardino and Charles Scardino, he built a career spanning Broadway performance, television acting, and an extensive second career as a director and producer.

Scardino's Broadway acting career ran from 1965 to 1978. His first credit on the Great White Way came as an understudy in The Playroom in 1965, followed by a role in Johnny No-Trump. He went on to appear in Godspell and starred in King of Hearts, with additional Broadway credits including Angela and Lennon. Off-Broadway, his stage work included The Rimers of Eldritch, The Comedy of Errors, Moonchildren, and I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road.

Beyond the stage, Scardino worked extensively in film and television during his acting years. His feature film appearances include The People Next Door (1970), Homer (1970), Rip-Off (1971), Squirm (1976), Cruising (1980), and He Knows You're Alone (1980). On television, he appeared on the daytime soap operas Guiding Light, All My Children, Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, and Another World, as well as the primetime series The Ghost & Mrs. Muir and The Name of the Game. He also starred in multiple episodes of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater, which aired from 1974 to 1982.

Scardino transitioned from acting into directing, beginning with the soap operas on which he had previously performed, including Another World, One Life to Live, and All My Children. He served as artistic director at Playwrights Horizons from 1991 to 1996. His stage directing credits include the world premiere of Aaron Sorkin's A Few Good Men on Broadway in 1989 and the 2003 Broadway production of Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All. He also directed the 2005 Broadway musical Lennon.

His television directing work includes extensive runs on Law & Order from 1991 to 2006, Tracey Takes On... from 1997 to 1998, and 30 Rock from 2006 to 2013, among numerous other series including The West Wing, Ed, Rescue Me, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Young Sheldon, and Only Murders in the Building. He directed the 2013 feature film The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, starring Jim Carrey and Steve Carell, and earlier feature directing credits include Me and Veronica, which screened at the Venice Film Festival, and Advice from a Caterpillar, which won best comedy at the Aspen Comedy Festival. Scardino also produced The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd from 1988 to 1991 and served as a producer on 30 Rock from 2006 to 2010.