Ralph Senensky | |
|---|---|
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| Born | May 1, 1923 Mason City, Iowa, U.S. |
| Died | November 1, 2025 (aged 102) |
| Occupations |
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| Years active |
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| Notable work | Star Trek The Waltons |
| Website | senensky |
Ralph Abbott Senensky (May 1, 1923 – November 1, 2025) was an American television director and screenwriter.
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, 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, 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.
| Year | Film | Credit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | The Cliff | Director | Television movie |
| 1973 | A Dream for Christmas | Director | Television movie |
| Winesburg, Ohio | Director | Television movie | |
| 1974 | The Family Kovac | Director | |
| Death Cruise | Director | Television movie | |
| 1975 | The Family Nobody Wanted | Director | Television movie |
| 1976 | Jeremiah of Jacob's Neck | Director | Television movie |
| 1978 | Harper Valley PTA | Director (Uncredited) | |
| The New Adventures of Heidi | Director | Television movie | |
| 1980 | Dan August: Once Is Never Enough | Director | Edit of his prior TV work for movie form |
| Dan August: Murder, My Friend | Director | Edit of his prior TV work for movie form | |
| Treachery and Greed on the Planet of the Apes | Director | ||
| 1981 | Big Bend Country | Director | Television movie |
| 2013 | The Right Regrets | Director | Short |
| Year | TV Series | Credit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958–1959 | Playhouse 90 | Production supervisor, production coordinator | 4 episodes |
| 1961–1965 | Dr. Kildare | Director | 5 episodes |
| 1962 | Checkmate | Director | 1 episode |
| 1963 | Channing | Director | 1 episode |
| East Side/West Side | Director | 1 episode | |
| Naked City | Director | 3 episodes | |
| Route 66 | Director | 2 episodes | |
| The Twilight Zone | Director | 1 episode | |
| 1963–1964 | Arrest and Trial | Director | 2 episodes |
| Breaking Point | Director | 3 episodes | |
| The Nurses | Director | 2 episodes | |
| 1963–1965 | Kraft Suspense Theatre | Director | 3 episodes |
| 1964–1965 | The Fugitive | Director | 4 episodes |
| 1965 | Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | Director | 1 episode |
| The Long, Hot Summer | Director | 1 episode | |
| Slattery's People | Director | 1 episode | |
| 12 O'Clock High | Director | 4 episodes | |
| 1966 | The Big Valley | Director | 1 episode |
| The Wild Wild West | Director | 2 episodes | |
| 1966–1972 | The F.B.I. | Director | 16 episodes |
| 1967 | The High Chaparral | Director | 1 episode |
| Judd, for the Defense | Director | 1 episode | |
| Mission: Impossible | Director | 1 episode | |
| 1967–1968 | Ironside | Director | 2 episodes |
| Star Trek | Director | 6+1⁄2 episodes | |
| 1968 | I Spy | Director | 1 episode |
| Mannix | Director | 1 episode | |
| The Name of the Game | Director | 1 episode | |
| 1969 | Then Came Bronson | Director | 1 episode |
| 1969–1970 | The Bill Cosby Show | Director | 4 episodes |
| The Courtship of Eddie's Father | Director | 6 episodes | |
| 1969–1980 | Insight | Director | 15 episodes |
| 1970 | The Interns | Director | 1 episode |
| Matt Lincoln | Director | 1 episode | |
| 1970–1971 | Nanny and the Professor | Director | 6 episodes |
| The Partridge Family | Director | 7 episodes | |
| 1971 | Dan August | Director | 5 episodes |
| Getting Together | Director | 3 episodes | |
| 1972 | Banyon | Director | 3 episodes |
| Night Gallery | Director | 1 episode | |
| 1972–1973 | The Rookies | Director | 2 episodes |
| 1973 | Search | Director | 1 episode |
| 1973–1975 | Barnaby Jones | Director | 3 episodes |
| 1973–1978 | The Waltons | Director | 12 episodes |
| 1974 | Planet of the Apes | Director | 1 episode |
| 1975 | The Blue Knight | Director | 1 episode |
| The Family Holvak | Director | 2 episodes | |
| Medical Story | Director | 1 episode | |
| Three for the Road | Director | 2 episodes | |
| 1976 | City of Angels | Director | 1 episode |
| 1977 | Eight Is Enough | Director | 1 episode |
| Family | Director | 1 episode | |
| Westside Medical | Director | 1 episode | |
| 1978 | James at 16 | Director | 1 episode |
| 1979 | How the West Was Won | Director | 1 episode |
| Trapper John, M.D. | Director | 1 episode | |
| 1979–1984 | Hart to Hart | Director | 7 episodes |
| 1980 | Lou Grant | Director | 1 episode |
| Young Maverick | Director | 1 episode | |
| 1981 | Dynasty | Director | 4 episodes |
| 1983 | Casablanca | Director | 2 episodes |
| 1984 | Paper Dolls | Director | 3 episodes |
| 1985–1986 | The Paper Chase | Director | 7 episodes |
