Sandor Stern

Sandor Stern was born in the northern Canadian town of Timmins, Ontario, where he spent his early years before moving to the small town of Prescott, Ontario, situated on the St. Lawrence River. It was during his high school days that Stern discovered his passion for short story writing, which eventually led him to compose stage plays while attending the University of Toronto. Initially, he had planned to pursue a degree in teaching, but a wise physician-uncle suggested that medicine might offer a more thrilling experience for an aspiring writer. Taking his uncle's advice, Stern enrolled in Medical School at the University of Toronto, where he continued to write, transitioning to TV scripts and selling his first script to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation before graduating in 1961. After setting up a private practice in Toronto, Stern continued to write, expanding his repertoire to include songwriting and variety sketch writing. Over the next five years, he wrote numerous shows for the CBC until the demand for his work allowed him to give up his medical practice and dedicate himself full-time to writing. He went on to create the CTV network's first drama, Rumble of Silence, and developed the CBC network's medical series, Corwin, in 1969. Feeling the urge to try his luck in Hollywood, Stern relocated to Los Angeles and quickly landed an assignment to write an episode of NBC's "Bold Ones, The". He then went on to work on other episodic dramas, including Ironside, 0066681, and Mod Squad, and began producing with Doc Elliot in 1973. His TV movie producing career started in 1976 with The Strange and Deadly Occurrence, followed by The Seeding of Sarah Burns in 1979, which marked his first directing assignment. Since then, he has written and/or directed more than 35 movies, including feature films such as The Amityville Horror, Fast Break, and Pin, which he also directed.