Kirk Browning (1921–2008)

The longtime director of Live From Lincoln Center, Kirk Browning, died on February 10, in Manhattan where he lived. Browning was 86.

Kirk Browning who won three prime-time Emmy Awards for directing during his career, had hundreds of television productions to his credit,  including 185 broadcasts of Live From Lincoln Center beginning with its inaugural telecast in 1976. 

He came a long way from his days of raising chickens and sheep on his Connecticut farm in the late 1940's. A customer on his egg route, Sam Chotzinoff, then the head of NBC's Music Division, offered Browning a job in the music library at NBC. He began by filing scores—but soon found himself directing live telecasts of the NBC Symphony with Arturo Toscanini. Before long, he was named a Stage Manager at the new NBC Opera Company. Soon after, he was graduated to Director. It was at NBC that Browning began to hone the techniques that would later stand him in such good stead on Live From Lincoln Center, and to develop his directorial trademark—a probing camera, constantly in motion, that vividly explores character and dramatic conflict. It was also during those days that he came to understand and live with the challenges and pressures of live television. He said it's simple: “You just have to be terribly focused and organized, and at the same time remain objective enough so that if disaster strikes, you never lose your cool.” After all, he said, “there's nothing more thrilling than capturing the spontaneity of a live performance.”

In addition to Live From Lincoln Center, Mr. Browning's directing credits read like a listing from a “Who's Who” in television programming; he did everything from Frank Sinatra's first TV show to Arthur Miller's “Death of A Salesman,” made for A&E and starring Brian Dennehy. He directed for WNET's “Live from the Met” and “Great Performances”; Hallmark Hall of Fame music and drama specials; Philadelphia Orchestra telecasts and Broadway specials, Pavarotti at Madison Square Garden, White House specials and the list goes on and on. In addition to his Emmy Awards, Mr. Browning received two Christopher Awards, a CITA Award, a George Foster Peabody Award, and countless Emmy nominations.