Walter E. Grauman was a director, producer and writer best known for his work on the show Murder, She Wrote, for which he directed more than 50 episodes. He also directed the pilots for The Fugitive and The Streets of San Francisco. In addition to the series, he directed the made-for-TV movie version of The Fugitive.

As a director, Grauman worked on numerous television series, including Matinee Theatre, Peter Gunn, Man Without a Gun, Naked City, The F.B.I., Perry Mason, The Untouchables, Twilight Zone, Route 66, Barnaby Jones, Columbo and Blue Light, the last of which he also wrote.

A relative of Sid Grauman, who built the famed Chinese and Egyptian movie theaters in Hollywood, Grauman directed the 1957 horror film The Disembodied, and the television horror film Nightmare on the 13th Floor. He was the executive producer for the show Felony Squad, about a veteran cop paired with a rookie who is also the desk sergeant’s son. And he was a producer on the series The Silent Force and Bare Essence.

In 1988 he created the Spotlight Awards at the Los Angeles Music Center, to provide recognition and opportunities for high school performing and visual artists in Southern California.

Grauman died March 20, 2015, in Los Angeles. He was 93.