William Asher, 'Director of I Love Lucy' and 'Bewitched' Dies at 90

Noted TV producer and director William Asher passed away on Monday. Suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, he was 90 years of age when he passed in Palm Desert, California.

Asher worked steadily from the 50s through the early 80s, directing such successful series as I Love Lucy, Fibber McGee and Molly, The Patty Duke Show, Gidget, Bewitched, and Alice. In addition, he produced several programs, including The New Temperatures Rising Show and The Paul Lynde Show, as well as the aforementioned The Patty Duke Show and Bewitched.

During the hit comedy Bewitched, Asher was married to its star, Elizabeth Montgomery, with whom he had three children. He also won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy during the debut season of Bewitched in 1964, a far cry from his days in the mail room of Universal Studios where he first began working.

Prior to Montgomery, Asher had two children while wed for a decade to Danni Sue Nolan. His union to Montgomery also lasted ten years, after which he married another actress, Joyce Bulifant. They divorced after 17 years in 1993. Three years later, he married Meredith Coffin, whom he was wed to at the time of his death.

Asher retired in 1991 after directing the Return to Green Acres TV reunion movie. He and his wife settled in La Quinta and Indian Wells to enjoy their post-Hollywood lives. His wife was with him when he died.