---
name: "Edwin Sherin"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/edwin-sherin"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "15 January 1930"
died: "4 May 2017"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 84
updated: "2026-09-16T20:34:24.709510+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Edwin Sherin

Director. Born 15 January 1930 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA. Died 4 May 2017.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 15 January 1930, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA
- **Died:** 4 May 2017
- **Active:** 1981–1993
- **Also known as:** Ed Sherin
- **Works often with:** Adam Bernstein, Alan Taylor, Christian I. Nyby II, Darnell Martin, David Black, Dick Wolf

## Fi1m on Edwin Sherin

> Edwin Sherin's television direction puts actors first, using their movement to give scenes immediacy. We value that practical care, particularly in the crowded police dramas that became his most sustained screen work.

Sherin's actors do the moving. His approach to television shooting used their movement, rather than camera movement, to create a hand-held immediacy. We like the practical sense of that: a scene can feel busy without turning each change of position into a display of direction. It is an actor-centred method, and a useful one for stories about people at work.

*Hill Street Blues* (1981) gives us the clearest reason to value the sort of television he helped make. We were moved by its compassion, which keeps the people worth watching alongside the police work. The crowded storytelling asks for concentration, and some of the characterisation has dated, but we recommend it warmly. Sherin directed episodes; that gives us no licence to attribute all the programme's virtues to him.

His route into this work ran through the theatre, with a directing breakthrough in *The Great White Hope* (1968). Two theatrical features followed in 1971, including *Valdez Is Coming*, starring Burt Lancaster. The features found little critical favour, and from the mid-1980s his screen work shifted chiefly to television films and episodic series. That change gave his actor-centred methods a more sustained use.

On Dick Wolf's *Law & Order* (1990), he directed 36 episodes and executive-produced more than 150. His reputation for efficient shooting came with a reputation for care with actors, a combination worth taking seriously. Getting a scene shot quickly means little if the performers seem hurried through it, and his attention to actors makes the efficiency more encouraging. His contribution also extended beyond his own episodes: he mentored directors, assistant directors and producers on the programme.

There are limits to what a method can tell us about the finished work. Our strongest recommendation here remains *Hill Street Blues*, with its crowded storytelling and its compassion, rather than a blanket endorsement of everything Sherin directed. Choose it for an evening when nobody intends to keep looking at their phone.

## Biography

Edwin Sherin (also credited as Ed Sherin) was an American-Canadian theatre and television director and producer. Born on 15 January 1930 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, he began his career as an actor before moving into directing, first on Broadway and later in film and television.

Sherin directed the original Broadway production of *The Great White Hope* (1968), for which he won a Drama Desk Award. He also directed episodes of series including *Hill Street Blues* (1981), *Moonlighting* (1985), *Law & Order* (36 episodes) and its spin-offs, as well as serving as executive producer on 151–163 episodes of the original *Law & Order*. He received a Primetime Emmy Award and multiple nominations for his work on the series. His feature films include *Valdez Is Coming* (1971).

Sherin was married to actress Jane Alexander from 1975 until his death on 4 May 2017 in Lockeport, Nova Scotia. He received a Tony Award nomination for directing the 1974 Broadway play *Find Your Way Home*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, playbill.com, nytimes.com, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Moonlighting* (1985), Fi1m 82, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/moonlighting.md)
- *Hill Street Blues* (1981), Fi1m 86, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/hill-street-blues.md)

## Also credited on (not yet reviewed)

- *Homicide: Life on the Street* (1993), Director
- *Law & Order* (1990), Director

## Also known for

- *Law & Order: Special Victims Unit* (1999), Director
- *Medium* (2005), Director
- *Law & Order: Criminal Intent* (2001), Director
- *Tour of Duty* (1987), Director
- *Doogie Howser, M.D.* (1989), Director
- *Valdez Is Coming* (1971), Director
- *L.A. Law* (1986), Director

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/edwin-sherin