Biography

Bender grew up in a secular Jewish family in Los Angeles. His father was a furrier to the Hollywood community. He studied art with Los Angeles artist Martin Lubner (spouse of actress Joanna Merlin) and then went into acting "because it seemed like what I could do and make a living." As an actor, Bender has guest starred on All in the Family, The Bob Newhart Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He has co-starred in The Million Dollar Duck, Savage and McNaughton's Daughter. He then went into directing, working on a number of television series.

He was an executive producer and lead director on the ABC TV series Lost, directing 38 episodes of the show, including the series finale. Bender has also directed on other popular shows such as The Sopranos, Carnivàle, Alias and Boston Public. In recent years he was an executive producer and lead director on the TV series Under the Dome (2013) and The Last Ship (2014-15). Bender will be directing the fifth and sixth episodes of the sixth season of Game of Thrones (2016), followed by a limited TV series adaptation of Stephen King's novel Mr. Mercedes.

Personal life

He is married to Rabbi Laura Owens of B’nai Horin. They have two daughters, Hannah and Sophie Owens-Bender. He now practices Judaism.

Director

[ Source: Wikipedia ]