I used the term "legendary" in the header, and I don't think that's an
exaggeration.  More than any other director of his generation, Roley
was known within the industry for his exuberant visual sense, a near-
constant use of skewed angles, distorted lenses, long takes, elaborate
tracking shots, and bold compositions (as with many of his
contemporaries, the influence of Orson Welles and "Citizen Kane" was
paramount).  This led to conflicts with more conservative producers,
cameramen, and actors, but when Roley encountered equally
adventuresome collaborators he could produce some of the most dazzling
imagery ever composed for TV.

His best and most sustained work was probably done for "Combat" in the
mid-sixties and "Mannix" in the early seventies (my favorite "Roley
shot" is a lengthy love scene between Mike Connors and Sally
Kellerman, shot in one take entirely through the bars of a birdcage
filled with twittering parakeets).

Roley started out in live TV, directing (and sometimes writing)
"Lights Out" and "The Kate Smith Show," and segued into filmed
television via the Ziv factory of cheap half-hour action shows
("Harbor Command, "Men of Annapolis").  His other credits included
"Adventures in Paradise," "The Man From UNCLE," "The Rat Patrol,"
"Twelve O'Clock High," "The Name of the Game," "The Invaders," "Lost
in Space," and "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea."

Paid death notice from the LA Times (March 7):