Dwight Hemion
Dwight Arlington Hemion Jr. (March 14, 1926 – January 28, 2008) was an American television director known for music-themed shows in the 1960s and 70s. He started in live TV in New York in the 1950s, working on the Tonight Show with Steve Allen. In the 1960s he teamed with Gary Smith on Kraft Music Hall specials for NBC, and together they formed Smith-Hemion Productions. They helped define the glamorous, fast pace of American variety TV, and Hemion became known for directing concert-style specials with big stars such as Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Elvis Presley, Paul McCartney, and The Muppets. He also directed the Kennedy Center Honors in 1989 and 1990.
Hemion earned the most Emmy nominations ever—47 in total—and won 18. He also won five Directors Guild awards, six Ace awards, and a Peabody. Notable works include My Name Is Barbra (1965), Sinatra: A Man and His Music (1965), a 1976 Peter Pan with a new score, Baryshnikov on Broadway (1980), and Barbra Streisand: The Concert (1994). He later produced large conventions and presidential inauguration events, and was an executive producer for The Star Wars Holiday Special. He died of kidney failure in Rectortown, Virginia, at age 81. He had two children and was married twice.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:18 (CET).