Marvin Chomsky began his career in high school gaining credits for producing small radio and television programs for WNYC and WCVW in New York City. He attended Syracuse University in the Drama Department and quickly found a passion in the production side of television, working as a lighting technician. After attending Stanford University where he received a Masters in stage and set design, he moved back to New York where he worked as an apprentice painter, obtaining a job at CBS working in the art department for such television shows as Camera Three, Play of the Week, Video Village and The Doctors and the Nurses. Becoming more immersed in the world of television production, Chomsky decided he would like to direct and was able to helm several episodes of The Doctors and the Nurses.
After moving to Los Angeles to further his career a chance encounter lead to a directing job for a six-month shoot in India for the television series Maya. When Chomsky returned to Los Angeles, he found steady television directing work, directing episodes of such series as The Wild Wild West, Star Trek, Then Came Bronson, Gunsmoke, Lancer, Men at Law, Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, The Name of the Game, The Interns, Bearcats!, Mission: Impossible, and Hawaii Five-O, among others. Chomsky is particularly very well known for his large historical drama mini-series and movies for television such as Roots (1977), Holocaust (1978), Attica (1980), Evita Peron (1981), Inside the Third Reich (1982), Nairobi Affair (1984), Peter the Great (1986), Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (1986), Billionaire Boys Club (1987), The Strauss Dynasty (1991), and Catherine the Great (1996), among others. A director of numerous mediums, Chomsky has also helmed the feature films Evel Knievel (1971), Murph the Surf (1975), Mackintosh and T.J. (1975), Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff (1979), and Tank (1984).
For his directorial efforts Chomsky has been nominated for four DGA Awards, winning twice, for Holocaust in 1979 and Inside the Third Reich in 1983. He has also been nominated for nine Primetime Emmy Awards, winning four times, for directing Holocaust, Attica, and Inside the Third Reich, and for producing Peter the Great. Chomsky served as an alternate on the DGA’s Western Directors Council from 1983-84.
Chomsky passed away in April 2022.