Tuscaloosa Native & Creative Genius Behind Seinfeld Has Passed Away
Award winning Tuscaloosa native and University of Alabama graduate Tom Cherones, who gained fame as producer and director of the massively popular television sitcom "Seinfeld" has died. According to the Hollywood Reporter Cherones passed away January 5th at his Florence, Oregon home at the age of 86. He has been in an extended battle with Alzheimer's Disease according to his family.
Born in Tuscaloosa on Sept. 11, 1939, Cherones graduated from the University of New Mexico with a degree in journalism in 1961. Then served as naval officer until 1965. He came back to Tuscaloosa and received a master's degree from UA in 1967 and later returned again to teach filmmaking classes in the College of Communications and Information Sciences for 12 years.
The Hollywood trade periodical Variety described how Cherones became an innovative leader of the "Seinfeld" production. "Cherones’ first directing credit for “Seinfeld” was the sitcom’s second episode, “The Stakeout,” which aired in May 1990. He contributed to the show’s visual language by shooting multi-camera in a way that achieved a more cinematic look than the standard sitcom aesthetic. He went on to direct many of the show’s more experimental episodes, including “The Chinese Restaurant,” “The Parking Garage,” and “The Contest" among others.
Known for wearing trademark Hawaiian shirts on set, Cherones gain tremendous respect for his behind the camera talents. But he did appear on camera once. playing "the director” in the fourth-season episode “The Pilot,” in which he says he was “gonna rip that little guy [Jason Alexander’s George Costanza] a new one.”
Cherones received six Emmy nominations for “Seinfeld” and, in 1993, shared the coveted award for outstanding comedy series with creators Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, among others. He also won a DGA Award and Golden Globe for the sitcom.
Cherones worked on numerous well know television shows for PBS affiliates around the country, including the famous WQED in Pittsburgh, where he worked on "“Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.”
In the mid 70s Cherones was a production manager for “General Hospital” and “Welcome Back, Kotter” before becoming an independent producer at Warner Brothers. ABC, CBS, Lorimar and Mary Tyler Moore Productions. According to Variety, his credits during this time include “Caroline in the City,” “NewsRadio,” “Ellen,” “Boston Common,” “Growing Pains,” “Ladies Man,” “The Pitts” and “Desperate Housewives.”
His IMDb bio says Cherones was married to Bobby Cherones, with whom he had two children, and later to Joyce Keener until her death in 2006. He is survived by his wife, Carol E. Richards; his daughter, Susan Cherones Lee and her husband Daniel; son, Scott Cherones and his wife, Linda; and grandchildren Jessa and Thomas Cherones, as well as several brothers and sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews.
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