Kim Manners (January 13, 1951 – January 25, 2009) was an American television producer and director best known for his work on The X-Files and Supernatural.
Early life Kim Manners was raised in a show business family. His father, Sam Manners (born Savino Maneri in Cleveland, Ohio) had production credits on shows such as The Wild Wild West and Route 66. Manners did some acting as a child; his first role was at the age of three in a Chevrolet commercial. He also watched and occasionally participated in his father's work as well as the work of William Beaudine, director of The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin. It was Beaudine who inspired Manners to become a director.
Manners' brother, Kelly, has production and directorial credits on Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dollhouse and his sister, Tana, works as a television director.
Career Manners made his directorial debut in 1978 at age 27, directing an episode of Charlie's Angels. Prior to this, he had worked as unit production manager on the show and as an assistant director on a handful of other projects. Other notable directorial credits to Manners' name include episodes of 21 Jump Street, Mission: Impossible, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Baywatch, K-9000, and The Commish.
Manners left his directing job at Stephen J. Cannell Productions in 1993 to work on the television series The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. He directed 7 of the series' 27 episodes, more than any other director for the show. He joked that he was the series' "mascot director". He was happy with the work for the series, and felt that it "stretched" him creatively. He said, "It really woke me up as a director, almost spiritually…" and that directing for Brisco was a large contributing factor to his later success as a regular director on The X-Files.
Manners signed on to produce and direct The X-Files in the show's second season at the advice of Rob Bowman, who had worked on the show in its first season, and James Wong and Glen Morgan, who were writers for the show and had previously worked with Manners on 21 Jump Street.
Manners, along with his fellow producers on The X-Files, was nominated for four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series in 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998. Manners was referenced in the X-Files episode "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" with a foul-mouthed police detective named after him. Following the finale of The X-Files in 2002, Manners directed a number of small projects before signing on to direct and produce Supernatural in 2005.
Death and memorial Manners died of lung cancer in Los Angeles, on January 25, 2009, at age 58.
The closing credits of the Supernatural season four episode "Death Takes a Holiday", which aired on March 12, 2009, showed two photos of Manners, along with the caption "We dedicate the entire season to Kim Manners" and a message stating, "We miss you, Kim." The fifth episode of the second season of AMC's Breaking Bad, titled "Breakage", which premiered on April 5, 2009, featured a dedication in the end credits, which stated "Dedicated to our Friend Kim Manners". The episode "Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster", from the revival season for The X Files which aired on February 1, 2016, features a scene where Mulder sits against Manners' gravestone, inscribed with Manners' real date of birth and death, and the phrase, "Let's Kick It in the Ass."
Filmography Year Title Notes1979–1981Charlie's Angels8 episodes1983–1984Automan4 episodes1983–1985Matt Houston10 episodes1984–1986Simon & Simon5 episodes1985Street Hawk1 episodeFinder of Lost Loves1 episode1985–1986Hardcastle and McCormick6 episodesRiptide2 episodes1986Sledge Hammer!1 episode1986–1987Hunter2 episodesStingray2 episodesSidekicks3 episodes1987–1988J.J. Starbuck2 episodes1988Star Trek: The Next Generation1 episodeWiseguy1 episodeMission: Impossible2 episodesParadise1 episode1989Baywatch2 episodes1989–1990Booker2 episodes1987–199021 Jump Street12 episodes1990Broken Badges2 episodes1991The 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage1 episodeK-90001 episode1991–1994The Commish7 episodes1993The Hat Squad2 episodes1993–1994The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.7 episodes1994Fortune Hunter1 episodeGreyhounds1 episode1994–1997M.A.N.T.I.S.3 episodes1995–2002The X-Files52 episodes2000Harsh Realm1 episode2003Alaska1 episode2005Empire2 episodesOver There1 episode2005–2008Supernatural16 episodes
References
External links
Supernatural Wiki entry about Manners with links to interviews and tributes