Jeffrey Hayden, television director and husband to Oscar-winning actress Eva Marie Saint, has died at the age of 90.
Hayden died peacefully after a year of cancer treatment on Christmas Eve at his home in Los Angeles surrounded by family, according to a statement released by his publicist on Tuesday.
Born October 15, 1926 in New York, Hayden graduated from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill before beginning his career at NBC in New York.
Hayden’s many credits as a television director include “The Andy Griffith Show,” “Leave it to Beaver,” “Lassie,” “Dennis the Menace,” “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies,” “The Donna Reed Show,” “77 Sunset Strip,” “Name of the Game,” “Route 66,” “Mannix,” “Peyton Place,” “Quincy,” “The Bold Ones,” “Ironside,” “Alias Smith & Jones,” “Cagney and Lacey,” “In the Heat of the Night,” and “Magnum, P.I.,” among others.
Hayden also served as executive producer and director of the daytime series “Santa Barbara” and directed several highly praised afterschool specials for ABC.
In theater, Hayden’s credits include “The Front Page,” “Summer and Smoke,” “Desire Under the Elms,” “Candida,” “The Fatal Weakness,” “Duet for One,” “Death of a Salesman” and “The Country Girl” — for which he won the Drama-Logue Award.
He also produced and directed “Awake and Sing,” “The Oldest Living Graduate,” “Dark at the Top of the Stairs,” “Winesburg, Ohio” and “Sunrise in My Pocket.” His most recent production was “Sunset Baby” in 2015 at the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles.
Hayden is survived by his wife, children Laurette and Darrell, and grandchildren Eli, Tyler, Molly and Stella.