Motion Picture Director, Television Director, Film Editor. Virgil William Vogel was the first child born to William J. and Maude C. Stark Vogel. With a career that lasted over 50 years, he became one of the most productive men in the American movie industry as a film editor, writer and director. In 1916, his uncle Lee D. Garmes, came to Hollywood, California to work in the movie industry and in 1933, was awarded an Oscar for his cinematography for the movie "Shanghai Express." Vogel followed him in 1940 starting at the position of assistant film editor at Universal Pictures. Over the years, he was credited with editing a number of films: "Mystery Submarine" in 1950, "Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man" and "Meet Danny Wilson" starring Frank Sinatra and Shelly Winters in 1951, "Son of Ali Baba" starring Tony Curtis in 1952; "The Man from the Alamo" and "East of Sumatra" starring Jeff Chandler and Suzan Ball in 1953; "Playgirl" in 1954 staring Shelley Winters, Richard Long and Mara Corday; "This Island Earth" starring Jeff Morrow in 1955; and "Touch of Evil" in 1958 with Orson Welles being the actor, writer, and director. In this film, Vogel got the chance to exhibit his editing talent in a murder scene taken with a first-time-used handheld camera and a scene of a three-minute car explosion. He also edited many other movies including most of the Ma and Pa Kettle movies. After being a film editor for about fifteen years, he approached Universal's executive Edward Muhl for a chance to do some directing. In 1956, he made his directorial debut with the sci-fi film "The Mole People," a much underfunded, yet very profitable, film set in the dimly-lit underground world of enslaved mole people. The capable handling of that film led to more assignments at the studio. He also directed the last of nine Ma and Pa Kettle movies, "The Kettles on Old MacDonald's Farm" along with two sci-fi films, "Invasion of the Animal People" in 1957 and "Land Unknown" produced in Sweden in 1959. At this point, his career turned toward opportunities in TV directing. In 1958, he directed three episodes of "M Squad." From 1958 to 1965, he wrote three episodes and directed 80 episodes of "Wagon Train." This followed with five episodes of "Bonanza" from 1965 to 1966. In 1965, he directed three episodes of "Burke's Law." With 48 out of the 112 episodes, he was the main director of the 4-year-long western series "The Big Valley," which ended in 1969. "The F.B.I." credits him with 37 episodes from 1969 to 1974. He directed five episodes of "Mission: Impossible" from 1970 to 1973. "The Streets of San Francisco" followed with 29 episodes from 1973 to 1976. "The Most Wanted" series credits him with seven episodes from 1976 to 1977. Working again with "The Big Valley's" Lee Majors in 1974, he directed one episode of "The Six Million Dollar Man." From 1973 to 1978, he directed nine episodes of "Police Story." In 1977, he directed two episodes including the pilot of "The Man from Atlantis" starring Patrick Duffy. He directed twelve episodes of the TV mini-series "Centennial" in 1978. This was followed by five episodes of "Magnum, P.I." from 1983 to 1986, seven episodes of "Airwolf" from 1984 to 1985, twelve episodes of "Spenser: For Hire" from 1985 to 1987 and four episodes of "Miami Vice" from 1987 to 1988. He directed one episode of "Knight Rider" in 1982 and "Quantum Leap" in 1991, along with the pilot episode of "Walker, Texas Ranger" in 1993. There are many other TV series that he directed such as: "Mike Hammer," "High Sierra Search and Rescue," "Overland Trail," "Honey West," "Dan August" and "Cannon." Vogel retired in the mid-1990s. For being a "reel" cowboy, he was installed in 1991 as a member in the "National Cowboy Hall of Fame" in the Fictional TV Drama Category for "Requiem For A Hero," an episode of the ABC series "The Young Riders," which he directed twelve episodes. With "Bonanza," "The Big Valley," "Wagon Train" and other series being reruns on today's TV schedules, a new generation will be viewing his work.