Theater, film and television writer-director Robert Allan Ackerman died Jan. 10. He was 77.
Theater, film and television writer-director Robert Allan Ackerman died Jan.10. He was 77. Nominated twice for Golden Globes and five times for Emmys, Ackerman also received numerous theater directing awards. Ackerman started out directing at the New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theatre. In the 1980s his theater productions included Martin Sherman’s Tony nominated “Bent,” starring Richard Gere and David Dukes; John Byrne’s “Slab Boys,” starring Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon and Val Kilmer and William Mastrosimone’s “Extremities” starring Susan Sarandon. He went on to direct Peter Allen in “Legs Diamond” and Al Pacino in Oscar Wilde’s “Salome.” When reached for comment, Al Pacino said, “I love Bob. I loved being around him, his aurora, his steady peace. To work with him was joyous. He understood the language of theater art and communicated it with such ease.
