---
name: "Jerry Belson"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/jerry-belson"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "8 July 1938"
died: "10 October 2006"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-16T16:15:28.434003+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."
---

# Jerry Belson

Director. Born 8 July 1938 in El Centro, California, USA. Died 10 October 2006.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 8 July 1938, El Centro, California, USA
- **Died:** 10 October 2006
- **Also known as:** Jerome Leon Belson, Richard Brando, Tawisaki Kwi

## Biography

Jerry Belson (1938–2006) was an American writer, director and producer who worked in film and television for over four decades. He began his career selling a script to *The Danny Thomas Show* at the age of 22, having previously worked as a magician, comic-book writer and drummer. He collaborated extensively with Garry Marshall on series including *The Dick Van Dyke Show* (1961–1966) and co-created *The Odd Couple* (1970–1975).

Belson directed episodes of *The Mary Tyler Moore Show* (1970) and *The Odd Couple*. His film writing credits include *Fun with Dick and Jane* (1977), *Smokey and the Bandit II* (1980) and *Always* (1989). He also wrote for *The Tracey Ullman Show* and *Tracey Takes On...*, winning three Primetime Emmy Awards. His sister, Monica Johnson, was also a screenwriter.

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

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Mary Tyler Moore Show* (1970), Fi1m 88, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-mary-tyler-moore-show.md)

## Also known for

- *Always* (1989), Screenplay
- *Smokey and the Bandit II* (1980), Screenplay
- *The Dick Van Dyke Show* (1961), Writer
- *Fun with Dick and Jane* (1977), Screenplay
- *The End* (1978), Screenplay
- *The Odd Couple* (1970), Director
- *Smile* (1975), Writer

---
© 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/jerry-belson