Asaad Kelada


Asaad Kelada is an American television director of many American television sitcoms.

Early life

Kelada was born in Cairo, Egypt where he studied drama under Youssef Chahine at the American University in Cairo. In 1961, he immigrated to the United States and studied directing at the Yale School of Drama.

Career

After directing stage plays and teaching drama in the 1960s and 1970s, he received his first opportunity directing television in 1976 with an episode of Rhoda titled "Rhoda Questions Her Life and Flies to Paris". Since then, he has directed episodes of many well-known sitcoms, including Benson, WKRP in Cincinnati, The Facts of Life, Family Ties and Who's the Boss?, for which he directed 117 episodes and also produced 51.
In an interview, Kelada said that good casting is essential to the success of a comedy, because "you cannot make the actor be funny". He also said that where drama is "analytical," comedy is "much more technical. It's about rhythm, timing, pace and energy."

Filmography