E. W. Swackhamer

Egbert Warnderink Swackhamer Jr., known professionally as E. W. Swackhamer, was born on January 17, 1927, and died on December 5, 1994. He worked as an actor, stage manager, and director across Broadway, off-Broadway, and national touring productions before transitioning to a career in Hollywood television and film.

Swackhamer's Broadway work included a 1957 appearance in Time Remembered. He also served as stage manager for the original Broadway production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. After years of work in theater in various capacities, he relocated to Hollywood in 1961 to pursue a career in television directing.

His television directing credits encompassed a wide range of series, among them M*A*S*H, L.A. Law, Murder, She Wrote, Bewitched, The Partridge Family, The Flying Nun, and Law & Order. Swackhamer directed 27 television pilots over the course of his career, 18 of which went on to regular series production, including Eight Is Enough, Quincy, M.E., S.W.A.T., and Nancy Drew. He received an Emmy Award for his direction of the six-hour miniseries The Dain Curse during the 1977–78 season.

Swackhamer had two children, Ten Eyck Swackhamer and Elizabeth Swackhamer, with his first wife, Gretchen Shane. On April 26, 1969, he married actress Bridget Hanley, with whom he had two daughters, Bronwyn, born March 3, 1971, and Meagan. At the time of his death on December 5, 1994, he was directing Star Command. He died of a ruptured aortic aneurysm at the age of 67.