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Peter Werner, an Oscar-winning director known for his work behind the camera on such TV series as “Moonlighting,” “A Different World” and “Law & Order: Svu,” has died at age 76.

His brother Tom Werner, co-founder of The Carsey-Werner Company, said via an email to The Hollywood Reporter that Peter died Tuesday morning in Wilmington, North Carolina, of a torn aorta.

Born in New York on Jan. 17, 1947, Werner earned his B.A. from Dartmouth College, his M.A. from Antioch University and an Mfa from the American Film Institute.

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While still a student at AFI, Peter won an Oscar for his 1976 live-action short film “Region of Ice,” which was based on Joyce Carol Oates’ short story and starred Irish actress Fionnula Flanagan.

The next year, he began his long and illustrious...

Peter Werner, the Oscar-winning director known for his television work that spanned five decades and included helming episodes of such popular series as Moonlighting, A Different World, Justified and Law & Order: Svu, has died. He was 76.

Werner died Tuesday morning in Wilmington, North Carolina, his younger brother, Tom Werner (producer on The Cosby Show, Roseanne, That ’70s Show, The Conners), told The Hollywood Reporter. “He had a torn aorta that the doctors weren’t able to repair. So sudden,” he wrote in an email.

As a student project while attending the American Film Institute, Peter Werner directed the 1976 short film In the Region of Ice, which was based on Joyce Carol Oates’ short story and starred Fionnula Flanagan. The project won the Oscar for live-action short film.

His career kicked off from there, with Werner helming a 1977 episode of Family. The ABC drama counted Mike Nichols and Aaron Spelling as executive producers.

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It's not hard to understand why Lifetime would want to take a risk on the erratic Lindsay Lohan to play Elizabeth Taylor in the channel's new movie "Liz & Dick" (Sunday at 9 p.m.). First Lohan's likely the most famous actress the channel could get for the role — even if she's been more infamous for the last several years — and her presence will draw attention from people who otherwise wouldn't bother watching. (Case in point: this is the first Lifetime movie I've written about in six years, going back to Sarah Chalke in "Why I Wore Lipstick to My...

By Allen Gardner

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Photo by: Ben Mark Holzberg/Lifetime

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I'm still not convinced by Lifetime's effort at balancing things with The Protector.

Here we are at last: the final challenge of the season before the top 3 are chosen to go to Fashion Week. It's fitting that it features what's possibly the craziest, most ridiculous judging in a season full of crazy, ridiculous decisions. It left a bad taste in my mouth. But let's get on with it.

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