Gil Cates

Gilbert `Gil` Cates (born June 6 1934 in New York City) is an American film director and television producer. He is probably best known for producing the annual Academy Awards shows on television 14 times now. In September 2007, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced he will be producing the 80th Academy Awards.

Cates has had a distinguished career in both motion pictures and television. He produced and directed I Never Sang for My Father (1970), a film which earned three Academy Award nominations, and directed Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (1973), which collected two more Oscar nominations.

Cates` accolades as Oscar Show producer are among a long roster of television credits. He earned an Emmy nomination as director of the 1991 television movie, Absolute Strangers, starring Henry Winkler. His credits, under his Cates/Doty Productions banner, also include A Death in the Family (2002), Collected Stories (2002), Innocent Victims (1996); 1990`s critically-acclaimed Call Me Anna, the tele-film based on Patty Duke`s autobiography; the Emmy-nominated Do You Know the Muffin Man? (1990); Confessions: Two Faces of Evil (1993); Fatal Judgment (1988); Consenting Adult (1984), for which he earned an Emmy nomination; and Hobson’s Choice (1983). Gil Cates is the uncle of noted actress Phoebe Cates.