Jonathan Kaplan, Emmy-Nominated Director of ‘ER’ and ‘The Accused,’ Dies at 77

Jonathan Kaplan, director for TV and films including “The Accused,” who was Emmy-nominated five times for “ER,” died on Friday in Los Angeles. His daughter Molly said the cause was advanced liver cancer. He was 77.

The son of film composer Sol Kaplan and actress Frances Heflin, Kaplan was born in Paris before moving to Los Angeles and then New York at a young age. As a child, he acted on the stage, notably appearing in Elia Kazan’s Broadway production of “The Dark at the Top of the Stairs.” After graduating the University of Chicago, he studied film under Martin Scorsese at New York University. In 1967, he completed his award-winning student short film, “Stanley.”

Scorsese later recommended Kaplan to Roger Corman, who hired him to direct his first feature: the sex comedy “Night Call Nurses.” The picture was a hit, leading to more opportunities for Kaplan to direct. Across the 1970s, he directed seven additional features, including “The Student Teachers,” “The Slam,” “Truck Turner,” “White Line Fever” and “Over The Edge.”

In the 1980s, Kaplan directed several TV movies and music videos, collaborating with musicians including Barbra Streisand, John Mellencamp and Rod Stewart. He revived his feature film career at the end of the decade, directing the critically acclaimed “The Accused,” which earned Jodi Foster her first Academy Award for Best Actress. His subsequent films included “Immediate Family,” starring James Woods and Glenn Close, “Unlawful Entry” starring Kurt Russell, Madeleine Stowe and Ray Liotta, and “Love Field,” starring Michelle Pfeiffer in an Academy Award nominated performance. Kaplan’s final theatrical release was “Brokedown Palace” in 1999.

At the turn of the millennium, Kaplan transitioned to working in television, directing episodes of various shows including “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Without A Trace” and “Brothers & Sisters.” Most notably, he directed over 50 episodes of “ER” and served as a producer on the series, garnering five Emmy nominations between 1997 and 2005. His final credit was for executive producing the 2014 film “That Guy Dick Miller:” a feature documentary about the eponymous character actor who starred in some of Kaplan’s Corman films.

Over the course of Kaplan’s career, his work was also nominated for two Golden Bear Awards at the Berlin International Film Festival, a Leo Award, and a CableACE Award. He married casting director Julie Selzer in 1987, with whom he had his only child. They divorced in 2001.

He is survived by his daughter, Molly Kaplan, his sister Nora and his two nieces. He was predeceased by his parents and his sister, Mady Kaplan Ahern.