Harvey Laidman, a veteran TV director who helmed several episodes of series such as The Waltons, Scarecrow and Mrs King, died at the age of 82.
Harvey’s son, Dan Laidman, told The Hollywood Reporter that his father died of cancer on January 3 in a hospital in Simi Valley.
During his three-decade-plus career, Laidman also directed installments of The Blue Knight, Family, Hawaii Five-O, Hunter, Kojak, Eight Is Enough, The Incredible Hulk, Lou Grant, and others.
Laidman was born in 1942 in Cleveland to a librarian mother and an electrical contractor father. The director developed his foundation in cinema after working with the legendary Kenley Players theatre company in Warren, Ohio, which hosted numerous productions with big-name Broadway, film, and TV stars, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He studied electrical engineering at Kent State before transferring to USC, where he earned a degree in cinema in 1964.
Laidman served as assistant director and unit production manager on the second and third seasons of CBS’s The Waltons from 1973-75. After this, he donned the director’s cap for 11 episodes of this period drama from 1975-81.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the director also helmed 10 episodes of CBS’s Scarecrow and Mrs. King from 1985-87; 33 episodes of NBC/ABC’s Matlock from 1988-94; and 16 episodes of The WB’s 7th Heaven, from 1996-2004.
Laidman later went back to school to earn a doctorate in education and taught science. From 2011 to 2023, he taught filmmaking at Cal State Northridge.
In addition to his son, survivors include his wife, Susan; his grandchildren, Mira and Talia; and his sister, Laura. A service to honor his life will be held at 11 a.m. on Sunday at Mount Sinai Hollywood Hills.
