Southern California native and veteran TV director Dick Darley died on April 21. He was 92.
Darley was best known for creating the animated sci-fi series “Space Angel,” which ran from 1962 until 1964. Before that — from 1950 until its end in 1955 — he directed the live-action sci-fi series “Space Patrol,” which started out as a 15-minute local show and then expanded to a nationally syndicated half-hour series.
As soon as “Space Patrol” ended, Darley signed on to direct the first season of “The Mickey Mouse Club.” His other credits include “The Spike Jones Show,” “The Rosemary Clooney Show,” “The Lux Show,” “The Millionaire,” “Lassie,” “The Littlest Hobo,” “Paradise Bay,” “Sigmund and the Sea Monster,” and “The Lost Saucer.”
After graduating high school in 1941, Darley joined the Navy and became a fighter pilot. He later attended the University of Southern California and received a degree in radio production and writing. He then worked at Don Lee’s Mutual Broadcasting’s experimental television station, and KFMB in San Diego, before landing a job at ABC-TV in Hollywood.
Darley is survived by his wife, his brother, his two children, and three grandchildren.
