LOS ANGELES (AP) — Richard Sarafian, an influential film director whose 1971 countercultural car-chase thriller "Vanishing Point" brought him a decades-long cult following, has died in Southern California, his son said Saturday night.
Richard Sarafian died at a Santa Monica hospital on Wednesday of pneumonia contracted while he was recovering from a fall, Deran Sarafian told The Associated Press. He was 83.
Sarafian worked primarily in television in his early career, directing episodes of 60s shows like "Gunsmoke," ''I Spy," and "77 Sunset Strip."
He also directed 1963's "Living Doll" episode of "The Twilight Zone," a chilling tale whose demonic main character Talky Tina terrified children for decades. That included his own kids. Deran Sarafian said as a boy he thought the episode was "the most horrible thing I've ever seen" before learning his father had made it.