Biography
Aaron launched his professional career directing a national tour of "The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie," featuring Oscar-winning actress Kim Hunter. Transitioning to filmmaking, he made his debut in 1978 with A Different Story, starring Perry King and Meg Foster, which became a cult classic. By 1986, he had begun producing his own films.
After graduating from Bennington College in Vermont, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in show business. There, he served as Casting and New Programs Director at the Mark Taper Forum, a 739-seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center designed by Welton Becket and Associates in Downtown LA’s Bunker Hill area.
During this period, Aaron founded an actor's workshop and directed several plays, including a critically praised production of "The Three Penny Opera." He also directed the successful off-Broadway rock musical "Salvation" in New York, which featured Bette Midler, Barry Bostwick, and Joe Morton. He then made his Broadway debut directing the comedy "Paris Is Out," starring Sam Levene and Molly Picon, becoming the youngest director in Broadway history. Returning to the West Coast, he directed the revival of Paddy Chayefsky's "The Tenth Man," starring Richard Dreyfuss, earning the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award for Best Director.
In 1979, Aaron directed his second feature film, A Force of One, an action thriller starring Chuck Norris and Jennifer O’Neill with a screenplay by Academy Award winner Ernest Tidyman. That same year, he directed the NBC TV movie The Miracle Worker, starring Patty Duke, Melissa Gilbert, and Diana Muldaur. His direction earned him a nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Specials/Movies for TV/Actuality at the 1980 Directors Guild of America Awards. He also received the Director’s Prize from the Monte Carlo Film Festival, a Golden Globe nomination, and the Christopher Award. The film garnered four Emmy nominations and won three, including Lead Actress for Patty Duke and Outstanding Dramatic Special for the 1979-1980 season.
In 1981, he directed CBS’s TV movie Thin Ice, starring Kate Jackson and Lillian Gish.
In 1987, he directed the acclaimed NBC special In Love and War, depicting the story of U.S. Navy Vice Admiral James Stockdale, starring James Woods and Jane Alexander. The Hollywood Reporter named it one of the top five televised shows of the season.
In 1992, Aaron sold the management division of his production company, Elsboy Entertainment, to focus on writing and producing. The following year, he co-wrote and co-produced the three-hour HBO miniseries Laurel Avenue, which Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Tom Shales of The Washington Post described as "a golden moment in the history of television.
