Joseph Cates; Emmy-Winning TV Director

Joseph Cates, who wrote, produced and directed more than 1,000 television specials--including two that won him Emmy Awards--has died in New York at 74.

Cates, father of actress Phoebe Cates, brother of Hollywood director Gil Cates and creator of “The $64,000 Question,” one of television’s pioneering and most popular game shows, died Saturday of complications from leukemia.

A native New Yorker, Cates attended New York University and flew rescue missions over the Pacific during World War II before joining the fledgling television industry, producing and directing a live talent hunt program titled “Look Upon a Star” in 1947.

Specializing in musical variety shows for the next four decades, Cates produced and directed specials featuring such entertaininers as Victor Borge, Johnny Cash, Nat “King” Cole, Perry Como, David Copperfield, Gene Kelly, Steve Martin, Ethel Merman, Yves Montand and Andy Williams.

His 1970 Anne Bancroft special and his 1972 tribute to George Gershwin won him Emmy awards.

Over the years, he cast Art Carney as Jackie Gleason’s pal, designed the original set for “The Honeymooners” and produced the annual Tony Awards telecasts.

During the 1960s, Cates also tried Broadway, staging “Spoon River Anthology,” a critically acclaimed series of dramatic readings that drew few customers until he wrote a letter to the New York Times, lambasting those who asked for quality but failed to support it.

The letter worked and other Broadway successes followed, including “What Makes Sammy Run” and “Joe Egg.” After his musical version of “Elmer Gantry” failed on Broadway, Cates refused to admit defeat, taking the show on the road, again and again, for more than 20 years.

In addition to Phoebe, Cates leaves two other daughters, Valerie and Alexandra; a son, Phillip, and two grandchildren.