Director Kirk Browning Dies at 86

Tom Judson to Play NYC's Metropolitan Ro...

By Brian Scott Lipton • Feb 11, 2008 • New York

Kirk Browning
(© Lincoln Center)

Kirk Browning, the longtime director of PBS' award-winning series Live From Lincoln Center, died on Sunday, February 10 of cardiac arrest in Manhattan. He was 86.

Browning, who won three prime-time Emmy Awards for directing during his career, began at NBC filing scores in their music library. Soon, he was directing live telecasts of the NBC Symphony with Arturo Toscanini, and was later named telecast director of the new NBC Opera Company.

In addition to directing 185 broadcasts of Live From Lincoln Center, ten of which won Emmy Awards, Browning directed Frank Sinatra's first TV show; the world premiere of the Gian Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors; and the televised versions of the Broadway shows The Gospel at Colonus, You Can't Take It With You, Death of a Salesman, and Our Town, among many other specials.

In addition to his Emmy Awards, Browning received two Christopher Awards, a CITA Award, and a George Foster Peabody Award.

Browning is survived by his wife, Barbara, and their two sons, David and Jeremy.