---
name: "Jerry Zaks"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/jerry-zaks"
fi1m_id: "jerry-zaks"
imdb_id: "nm0952360"
tmdb_id: 59635
wikidata_id: "Q3177517"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "7 September 1946"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 72
average_as: "director"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-26T01:49:02.173008+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 Zaks

## Identity

Jerry Zaks

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/jerry-zaks
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** jerry-zaks
- **IMDb ID:** nm0952360
- **TMDB ID:** 59635
- **Wikidata ID:** Q3177517
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Zaks, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3177517, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0952360/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/59635

Director. Born 7 September 1946 in Stuttgart, Germany.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 7 September 1946, Stuttgart, Germany
- **Active:** 1989–2003
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 3: 1 acting, 2 directing
- **Frequently works with:** [Andy Ackerman](https://film.one/person/andy-ackerman.md), [James Burrows](https://film.one/person/james-burrows.md), [Jeff Melman](https://film.one/person/jeff-melman.md), [Pamela Fryman](https://film.one/person/pamela-fryman.md), [Saladin K. Patterson](https://film.one/person/saladin-k-patterson.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 72, as director, over 2 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 84 (1), 1990s 88 (1), 2000s 55 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Zaks, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3177517, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0952360/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/59635

## Streaming the US now

- **Hulu:** [*Frasier*](https://film.one/tv/frasier.md) (88)
- **Peacock:** [*Two and a Half Men*](https://film.one/tv/two-and-a-half-men.md) (55)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Jerry Zaks is an American stage and television director and actor. Born in Stuttgart, Germany, he graduated from Dartmouth College and received an MFA from Smith College. He began his career as an actor on Broadway before turning to directing.

Zaks is best known for his Tony Award-winning stage productions, including Best Direction of a Play for *The House of Blue Leaves* (1986), *Lend Me a Tenor* (1989) and *Six Degrees of Separation* (1991), and Best Direction of a Musical for *Guys and Dolls* (1992). He has also directed episodes of television series including *Frasier* (four episodes, 2002–2003), *Everybody Loves Raymond* and *Two and a Half Men*, and the feature films *Marvin's Room* (1996) and *Who Do You Love?* (2008).

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

## On Fi1m (3)

### Performed in (1)

- *Crimes and Misdemeanors* (1989), Fi1m 84, as Man on Campus — [page](https://film.one/film/crimes-and-misdemeanors.md)

### Directed (2) — the average rests on these

- *Two and a Half Men* (2003), Fi1m 55, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/two-and-a-half-men.md)
- *Frasier* (1993), Fi1m 88, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/frasier.md)

## Complete filmography (26)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Love Letters* (2020), Director
- *Who Do You Love* (2008), Director
- *Married to the Kellys* (2003), series, Director
- *Hope & Faith* (2003), series, Director
- *Two and a Half Men* (2003), series, Director — Fi1m 55, [page](https://film.one/tv/two-and-a-half-men.md)
- *All About the Andersons* (2003), series, Director
- *Charlie Lawrence* (2003), series, Director
- *Smokey Joe's Cafe: The Songs of Leiber and Stoller* (2002), Stage Director
- *Bram & Alice* (2002), series, Director
- *Kristin* (2001), series, Director
- *The Man Who Came to Dinner* (2000), Director
- *The Beat* (2000), series, Actor
- *Marvin's Room* (1996), Director
- *Everybody Loves Raymond* (1996), series, Director
- *O. Henry's Christmas* (1996), Director
- *Frasier* (1993), series, Director — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/tv/frasier.md)
- *Assassins* (1990), Director
- *Crimes and Misdemeanors* (1989), as Man on Campus — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/crimes-and-misdemeanors.md)
- *The House of Blue Leaves* (1987), Stage Director
- *Outrageous Fortune* (1987), as Tobacco Clerk
- *The Gentleman Bandit* (1981), as Carl Schnee
- *Tintypes* (1981), Actor
- *Attica* (1980), as Lenny Becker
- *M*A*S*H* (1972), series, as Cpl. Phil Walker — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/tv/m-a-s-h-1972.md)
- *Temperatures Rising* (1972), series, Actor
- *The Edge of Night* (1956), series, Actor

## Gallery

- ![Jerry Zaks at the opening night of "Dog Day Afternoon" on Broadway - March 30, 2026](https://film.one/media/person/61706/gallery-0175630bddd0.jpg) Jerry Zaks at the opening night of "Dog Day Afternoon" on Broadway - March 30, 2026 — PhilipRomanoPhoto, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e1/JerryZaks-byPhilipRomano.jpg/1280px-JerryZaks-byPhilipRomano.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Jerry Zaks](https://film.one/media/person/61706/gallery-30a60a5f296a.jpg) Jerry Zaks — Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Jerryy_Zaks.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

## Awards

### Other awards — 4 won, 3 nominated

- Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical 1996: Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical (nominated)
- Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical 1995: Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical (nominated)
- Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical 1992: Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical (won)
- Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play 1991: Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play (won)
- Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play 1989: Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play (won)
- Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical 1988: Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical (nominated)
- Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play 1986: Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© 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-zaks