Howard Storm, a standup comic who later became directed television comedies such as “Mork & Mindy,” “Laverne & Shirley,” “Rhoda” and “Valerie,” died on Tuesday. He was 94.
Storm died of natural causes at his home in Beverly Hills, California, his son, Anthony Storm, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Storm’s career included a 59-episode run as director for “Mork & Mindy,” Deadline reported. He also oversaw episodes of “ALF,” “Full House,” “Head of the Class,” “Major Dad,” “Perfect Strangers” and “Everybody Loves Raymond.”
Storm began as a comedian and performed in Las Vegas, the entertainment news website reported. He opened for Andy Williams and did standup routines on “The Merv Griffin Show” more than a dozen times.
Howard Storm, Stand-Up Comic and 'Mork & Mindy' Director, Dies at 94 https://t.co/OjYG9Dl2g5
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) May 27, 2026
Storm became a director, learning from Woody Allen when he worked for him on the 1971 comedy “Bananas” and “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex but Were Afraid to Ask” (1972), according to The Hollywood Reporter.
He made his directorial debut on a 1975 episode of “Rhoda” and oversaw five more episodes during the show’s second season, the entertainment news website reported.
He then directed eight “Laverne & Shirley” shows from 1976 to 1978, and helmed the one-hour pilot of “Mork & Mindy” in 1978. The following year, he directed the one-hour pilot for “Angie.”
Storm directed one feature film, 1985’s “Once Bitten,” Deadline reported. It starred Lauren Hutton and a young Jim Carrey.
Howard Sobel was born on the kitchen floor of an apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan on Dec. 11, 1931, according to The Hollywood Reporter. His love for theater came from his father, who worked in vaudeville and burlesque.
“I knew from the age of two that I wanted to be in show business,” he once said. “My other friends wanted to be policemen, firemen, gangsters, and they all succeeded.”
In 1959, Storm signed a contract with the Desilu Workshop, which comedian Lucille Ball had launched as a training ground for young actors, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Lucy didn’t like me,” Storm said in a 2013 interview. “She kept using the other actors in comedy sketches. I kept saying, ‘Lucy! I’m a comedian! Why aren’t you putting me in any of the comedy sketches?’ She said, ‘Don’t be an ingrate.’”
Storm, who taught improv and managed boxers, published a memoir, “The (Im)Perfect Storm. From Henry Street to Hollywood,” in 2019.
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