Lesli Linka Glatter (born July 26, 1953) is an American film and television director. She is best known for her work on the AMC drama series Mad Men and the Showtime series Homeland. For her work in these two shows, she has received eight Primetime Emmy Award nominations and seven Directors Guild of America Awards nominations, winning the latter three times. She has also received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for short film Tales of Meeting and Parting (1985).
Life and career Glatter was born in Dallas and began her career as a dancer and choreographer. Her early choreography credits include William Friedkin's To Live and Die in L.A and the music video for Sheila E.'s "The Glamorous Life".
Her first film, Tales of Meeting and Parting (1984), produced by Sharon Oreck, was nominated for an Academy Award in the Live Action Short Film category. She made the film as part of the American Film Institute Directing Workshop for Women, of which she is an alumna.
In 1995, Glatter directed her first feature film, Now and Then, a coming-of-age story about four 12-year-old girls during an eventful summer in 1970.
She has made several television films for cable networks, but the majority of her work is in television series. Glatter has received six nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, for the Mad Men episode "Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency" (2009), and the Homeland episodes "Q&A" (2012), "From A to B and Back Again" (2014), "The Tradition of Hospitality" (2015), "America First" (2016), and "Prisoners of War" (2020).,
In 2018 it was announced that Glatter would serve as chair on the advisory council for NBC's Female Forward. An annual initiative to give ten women directors the opportunity to shadow a director on one of NBC's scripted television series for up to three episodes. The experience concludes with an in-season commitment for each finalist to direct at least one episode of the series they shadow.
On February 5, 2019, it was announced that Glatter would be credited as an executive producer alongside Bruna Papandrea and Charlotte Stoudt in the Netflix thriller series Pieces of Her. More recently, she and Cheryl Bloch launched Backyard Pictures with a first look deal at Universal Television.
In September 2021, Glatter was elected president of the Directors Guild of America. She was succeeded by Christopher Nolan in September 2025.
In February 2023, she directed and executive produced Love & Death, an HBO Max limited series written by David E. Kelley and starring Elizabeth Olsen and Jesse Plemons. It premiered on April 27, 2023.
In January 2025, Glatter's house was destroyed by the Palisades Fire.
In July 2025, she was one of four female directors to be nominated for an Emmy. She was nominated for an Emmy in Outstanding directing for a limited series/TV movie for Zero Day.
Filmography Films Year Title Notes1984Tales of Meeting and PartingShort film1995Now and Then1998The Proposition
Television Year Title Notes1986–1987Amazing Stories1987Into the HomelandTelevision film1988Vietnam War Story1990Brewster Place 1990–1991Twin Peaks1992On the Air 1993Black Tie Affair1994State of EmergencyTelevision film1994NYPD Blue1994Birdland1995–2008ER 1996Murder One1998Brooklyn South1998Buddy Faro1999–2001Law & Order: Special Victims Unit2000Freaks and Geeks2000–2007Gilmore Girls 2001Third Watch2001Citizen Baines2002Presidio Med 2002–2006The West Wing2005The O.C. 2005Numb3rs2005Jonny Zero 2005Revelations2005Grey's Anatomy2006The Evidence2006The Closer 2006Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip2007Heartland2007Heroes2007Journeyman2007–2010Mad Men2007–2009House M.D.2008Swingtown2008The Starter Wife2009The Unit2009Weeds2009The Mentalist 2009–2010Lie to Me2010The Good Wife2010–2012Pretty Little Liars2010–2012True Blood 2011The Chicago Code2011The Playboy Club2012Boss2012Nashville2012Last Resort2012–2013The Newsroom2012–2020Homeland25 episodes 2013The Walking Dead2013Justified2013Masters of Sex2013–2015Ray Donovan2014The Leftovers2017Six2017Law & Order True Crime2021The Morning Show 1 episode 2023 Love & Death5 episodes 2025 Zero Day6 episodes
Music videos Year Title 2004 "Keeping Last"
Awards and nominations Organizations Year Category Work Result Ref. Academy Award 1984 Best Live Action Short Film Tales of Meeting and Parting Primetime Emmy Awards 2010Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series Mad Men (episode: "Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency") 2013 Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series Homeland (episode: "Q&A") 2015 Outstanding Drama Series Homeland (season 4) Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series Homeland (episode: "From A to B and Back Again") 2016 Outstanding Drama Series Homeland (season 5) Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series Homeland (episode: "The Tradition of Hospitality") 2017 Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series Homeland (episode: "America First") 2020 Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series Homeland (episode: "Prisoners of War") 2025 Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series or Movie Zero Day Directors Guild of America Awards 1991Outstanding Direction in a Drama Series Twin Peaks (episode: "Episode 5") 2010Mad Men (episode: "Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency") Homeland (episode: "Q&A") 2014 Homeland (episode: "The Star") 2015 Homeland (episode: "From A to B and Back Again") Homeland (episode: "The Tradition of Hospitality") 2019 Homeland (episode: "Paean to the People") 2021 Homeland (episode: "Prisoners of War")
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