James Frawley (September 29, 1936 – January 22, 2019) was an American director and actor. He was a member of the Actors Studio since around 1961. He was best known for directing The Muppet Movie in 1979 and The Monkees television series.
In 1966, he was hired as a director for the new series The Monkees; he ended up directing half of the series’ 58 episodes.
He began a career of over four decades as a director. TV series he directed included Cagney & Lacey, Smallville, Ghost Whisperer and Judging Amy, along with many others. He directed occasional feature films and television films, most notably The Muppet Movie in 1979, in which he also had a cameo. His last acting role was a bartender in TV’s American Gothic in 1996.
He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series in 1967 for the episode “Royal Flush” of The Monkees, and was nominated for the same award the following year for another Monkees episode, “The Devil and Peter Tork”.
Frawley died in Indian Wells, California on January 22, 2019.
Gloria Greer interviews Jim Frawley