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Harvey Laidman, a television director known for working on multiple episodes of “The Waltons,” “Matlock” and “7th Heaven,” died Jan. 3 in Simi Valley, Calif. He was 82.

Laidman’s death was confirmed to Hollywood Reporter by his son, Dan Laidman, with the cause of death being cancer.

Throughout his multiple decades in the industry, Laidman directed episodes on a wide range of shows, including “Hawaii Five-o,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Quantum Leap,” “The Dukes of Hazzard,” “Magnum, P.I.,” “Jake and the Fatman,” “The Fitzpatricks,” “Eight Is Enough,” “The Blue Knight” and “Kojak.”

Laidman went on to direct a total of 11 episodes of “The Waltons” as well as 10 episodes of “Scarecrow and Mrs. King,” 33 episodes of “Matlock” and 16 episodes of “7th Heaven,” marking his final screen credit in 2004.

Chester Spier, a set decorator on “Matlock,” shared a tribute to his longtime friend on Facebook, writing that “Harvey had a brilliant sense of humor and a keen eye,...

Harvey Laidman, a veteran television director who helmed episodes of such shows like The Waltons, Matlock and Magnum P.I., died Jan. 3 at the age of 82.

Per previous reporting by The Hollywood Reporter, his son, Dan Laidman, said his father died of cancer in a hospice facility in Simi Valley, Calif.

Laidman, who worked as a TV director across three decades, was born in 1942 in Cleveland to a librarian mother and an electrical contractor father. In his youth, he spent three formative summers working with the legendary Kenley Players theater company in Warren, Ohio, which hosted numerous productions with big-name Broadway, film and TV stars.

Laidman studied electrical engineering at Kent State University before transferring to USC, where he earned a degree in cinema in 1964. Thereafter, he worked at Kttv and Lorimar Productions and graduated from the Directors Guild of America Producer Training program. In 1975, he got his first directing assignment on The Waltons.

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