Cliff Bole

Real world article
(written from a Production point of view)

Cliff Bole
Birth name:	Clifford John Bole
Date of birth:	9 November 1937
Place of birth:	San Francisco, California, USA
Date of death:	15 February 2014
Place of death:	Palm Desert, California, USA
Roles:	Director

Clifford "Cliff" John Bole (9 November 1937 – 15 February 2014; age 76) directed numerous Star Trek episodes from all three series set in the 24th century.

The Bolian race was named for Cliff Bole (he directed the first episode in which they were featured, TNG: "Conspiracy"), an in-joke that was carried to an even more obvious conclusion in the naming of the Cliffs of Bole – a tourist destination on the Bolian homeworld. (DS9: "Invasive Procedures")

According to actor Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher), Cliff Bole was one of many directors who treated him condescendingly on the set. Wheaton elaborated, "Most of them favored grabbing me by the elbow and moving me around the set, rather than, you know, giving me direction like I was a person or a professional or anything like that. The worst offender was this guy Cliff Bole." [1]

Alternately, actor Robert O'Reilly commented, "Cliff Bole was just a wonderful director [....] And he's a really nice guy." (The Official Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Magazine issue 16, p. 24)

Bole also directed episodes of other cult series, such as The Six Million Dollar Man, Baywatch, MacGyver and The X-Files. In 1982, he directed the pilot of T.J. Hooker, starring William Shatner and Richard Herd and featuring Ike Eisenmann. Later, he helmed seven additional episodes of that series between 1982 and 1984, some of which also starred James Darren. Bole also directed three episodes of Spenser: For Hire, which starred Avery Brooks and fifteen episodes of Fantasy Island, which starred Ricardo Montalban.

Bole is featured in the "Regeneration: Engaging the Borg" special of the 2013 The Best of Both Worlds (Blu-ray) release.

Bole passed away peacefully on 15 February 2014 at his home in Palm Desert, California. He was 76. [2]

Star Trek interviews

• "Cliff Bole – Of Redemption & Unification", The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine issue 17, pp. 27-35, interviewed by Edward Gross

Director credits

• TNG:
  • "Lonely Among Us"
  • "Hide and Q"
  • "Conspiracy"
  • "The Royale"
  • "The Emissary"
  • "The Ensigns of Command"
  • "The Hunted"
  • "A Matter of Perspective"
  • "Hollow Pursuits"
  • "The Best of Both Worlds"
  • "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II"
  • "Remember Me"
  • "First Contact"
  • "Qpid"
  • "Redemption"
  • "Silicon Avatar"
  • "Unification II"
  • "The Perfect Mate"
  • "Realm of Fear"
  • "Aquiel"
  • "Starship Mine"
  • "Suspicions"
  • "Liaisons"
  • "Eye of the Beholder"
  • "Emergence"
• DS9:
  • "Dramatis Personae"
  • "Cardassians"
  • "The Collaborator"
  • "Equilibrium"
  • "Defiant"
  • "Explorers"
  • "Facets"
• VOY:
  • "Cold Fire"
  • "Meld"
  • "Lifesigns"
  • "Tuvix"
  • "False Profits"
  • "Future's End, Part II"
  • "The Q and the Grey"
  • "Extreme Risk"
  • "Bliss"
  • "Dark Frontier" (Part One)

External links

• Cliff Bole at Wikipedia
• Cliff Bole at the Internet Movie Database