Ralph Senensky
Ralph Abbott Senensky was an American television director and screenwriter.
Life and career
Senensky was born in Mason City, Iowa, on May 1, 1923 to William, the co-owner of a clothing store, and Jenny Senensky, a homemaker. He attended Mason [City High School]. He served in Europe during World War II from 1943 to 1945 and was eventually stationed in Belgium. He studied at the Pasadena Playhouse and worked as a stage director of 45 productions and as a production supervisor on Playhouse 90 before directing for television. Senensky directed multiple episodes for dozens of television shows, as well as made-for-TV films from 1958 to 1988, including The Fugitive, Naked City, Route 66, Mission: Impossible, Dynasty, The Paper Chase, The Big Valley, The Wild Wild West, Eight Is Enough, The Rookies, Trapper John, M.D., Dr. Kildare, Breaking Point, 12 O'Clock High, The F.B.I., The [Courtship of Eddie's Father (TV series)|The Courtship of Eddie's Father], Dan August, Nanny and the Professor, Barnaby Jones, Insight, Hart to Hart, Death Cruise, The New Adventures of Heidi, the original series of Star Trek, The [Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone], Ironside, The Partridge Family and The Waltons. He also directed most of the feature film Harper Valley PTA. For Breaking Point, he directed an episode that had one of the first gay storylines in a TV show. He directed six full Star Trek episodes and was fired partway through the filming of "The Tholian Web". Among the episodes of The Waltons directed by Senensky was "Grandma Comes Home", which earned an Emmy Award nomination for Ellen Corby.He retired in 1988, but has had small stints directing since, including a theatre production and a film short. He turned 100 on May 1, 2023. With the death of Robert Butler on November 3, 2023, Senensky was the last surviving person to have directed an episode of the original series of Star Trek, before his own death in a hospital in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, on November 1, 2025, at the age of 102.