Christine Ballard

Christine Ballard was a director best known for her work helming the classic NBC sitcom Night Court, starring Harry Anderson, John Larroquette and Richard Moll. The series followed an eccentric judge who presided over a court dealing in petty crimes.

Ballard, who worked primarily in television, also directed episodes of the series Alice, It’s a Living and Charles in Charge. She worked as an assistant director or second unit director on Alice, Benson, Night Court, The Redd Foxx Show, The Golden Girls and Pacific Station. In 1997 and 1998, she worked on The Tony Danza Show as a technical coordinator.

She got her start in 1978 on the series Alice, starring Linda Lavin as the title character, based on the film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. Ballard started on the series as a script supervisor, served as an associate director the following year, and then in 1980 directed her first episode, “Carrie Sings the Blues.”

In 1969, she graduated from Indiana University with a degree in radio and television. While in school, she contributed to WIUS, the campus radio station. After graduating, she worked at station WTWO as a staff director before moving to California in 1973.

Ballard died January 2, 2016, in Van Nuys, California. She was 68.