RIP James Frawley (1936 - 2019)

James Frawley, director of The Muppet Movie has died. 

Frawley began his career by appearing on I Spy, Hogan's Heroes, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Monkees, My Favorite Martian, McHale's Navy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Outer Limits

He later directed episodes of The Monkees, for which he won the 1967 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for the episode "Royal Flush." He was nominated for the same award the following year for another Monkees episode, "The Devil and Peter Tork."

While he is best known to Muppet fans for directing The Muppet Movie he also directed
episodes of That Girl, Columbo, Cagney & Lacey, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Magnum, P.I., Father Dowling Mysteries, Law & Order, Picket Fences, Chicago Hope, Smallville,
Judging Amy, Grey's Anatomy, and Private Practice.

When studios were weary of putting up funds for a Muppet film, Frawley shot the test footage below to prove Muppets could work in the real world. 

James Frawley makes a cameo in The Muppet Movie severing frog legs in the El Sleezo Cafe. 

You can read more about James Frawley from the Palms Springs Desert Sun. He was 82.