Cliff Bole

Real world article

(written from aproduction point of view)

Cliff Bole

Birth name:

Clifford John Bole

Date of birth:

9 November 1937

Place of birth:

San Francisco, California, USA

Date of death:

15 February 2014

Place of death:

Palm Desert, California, USA

Roles:

Director

With Michael Dorn on the set of "Eye of the Beholder"

With Robert Duncan McNeill on Bole's right and Tim Russ on his left

Clifford "Cliff" John Bole (9 November 1937–15 February 2014; age 76) directed numerous episodes fromStar Trek: The Next Generation,Star Trek: Deep Space Nine andStar Trek: Voyager between1987 and1999.

TheBolian race was named for Cliff Bole (he directed the first episode in which they were featured,TNG: "Conspiracy"), an in-joke that was carried to an even more obvious conclusion in the naming of theCliffs of Bole – a tourist destination on the Bolian homeworld. (DS9: "Invasive Procedures")

According to actorWil Wheaton, Cliff Bole was one of many directors who treated him condescendingly on the set. Wheaton elaborated, "Most of them favored grabbing me by the elbow and moving me around the set, rather than, you know, giving me direction like I was a person or a professional or anything like that. The worst offender was this guy Cliff Bole."[1]

Alternately, actorRobert O'Reilly commented, "Cliff Bole was just a wonderful director […] And he's a really nice guy." (The Official Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Magazine issue 16, p. 24)

Bole also directed episodes of other cult series, such asThe Six Million Dollar Man,Baywatch,MacGyver andThe X-Files. In 1982, he directed the pilot ofT. J. Hooker, starringWilliam Shatner andRichard Herd and featuringIke Eisenmann. Later, he helmed seven additional episodes of that series between 1982 and 1984, some of which also starredJames Darren. Bole also directed three episodes ofSpenser: For Hire (starringAvery Brooks) and fifteen episodes ofFantasy Island (starringRicardo Montalban).