No one in East Carolina University's School of Communication appears to notice the older, white-haired man with glasses, gray pants, green flannel shirt and gray New Balance walking shoes.

Hal Gurnee would have it no other way.

He is standing inside the building's entrance watching clips from "That Was The Week That Was," a television show from the 1960s. He laughs along with the on-screen audience.

Students and professors quickly pass by him, not realizing that this man is someone they've probably invited into their homes countless times, on many late nights.

Gurnee directed such television shows as "The Jack Paar Tonight Show," "The David Frost Show," "That Was The Week That Was," "The Man Show," and perhaps most notably "The Late Show with David Letterman."

But even though he has lead an extraordinary life, the trappings of fame and success have not gone to his head.

The two-time Emmy winner feels his greatest achievement is "getting my wife to marry me, because I was no great find."

It is that kind of modesty, combined with skill, irreverent wit, quiet intelligence and a happy-go-lucky attitude that has guided Gurnee's impressive career span over four decades.

The Dartmouth psychology major first got his television break by working as a technical assistant at Dumont Television in the late 1950s.

When that business relationship fell through, he landed an assistant directing job at NBC that would eventually help him become the director of "The Jack Paar Tonight Show."

"It was very boring work," Gurnee said. "but it was very helpful because it was very chaotic and it gave you a sense of how to deal with emergencies."

As a director, dealing with emergencies was something that Gurnee constantly had to face. Although none is more famous than when Jack Paar walked off a live TV show in 1960. Gurnee was in the control room.

"I remember it vividly. I was still the assistant director. We had no idea that he was going to walk off and when he did walk off," Gurnee recalls. "The director said, 'Well, that's it, let's fade to black.' And I said, 'No. No. Let's continue.' And then we continued and Hugh Downs, the announcer, came on and filled in.

It was almost a month before Paar returned to the show."

While Gurnee has put up with his fair share of temperamental hosts throughout his career, it has been nothing compared to dealing with celebrities.

He recalls one of his favorite greenroom moments while working on "The David Frost Show."

Frost was notoriously late.

Legendary film star Robert Mitchum, however, wasn't tolerant of Frost's tardiness.

"The secretary called down and said, 'David is going to be a little bit later than usual. He's just gone off to the United Nations to make an address,'" Gurnee said. "And I had to go down for a third time (to talk to Mitchum) to tell him, 'Sorry, but he's making an address at the United Nations.' And he (Mitchum) said, 'Just a minute, when Dave comes back from the United Nations, tell him to go [expletive] himself.' And he walked out." Gurnee said chuckling. "I loved it."