German-born film and television director (1919–1989) who directed two first-season episodes of the original Star Trek, The Conscience of the King and The Alternative Factor, after notable work on The Outer Limits.
Gerd Oswald was a German-born director who built his American career on taut low-budget features such as A Kiss Before Dying and on a long run of episodes of The Outer Limits, which made him a natural choice for the new science-fiction series being made at Desilu.
He directed two episodes of the first season of the original Star Trek. The Conscience of the King is a moody, theatrical piece in which Kirk suspects the actor Anton Karidian of being the mass murderer Kodos the Executioner. The Alternative Factor follows the tormented traveller Lazarus and his struggle with his counterpart from an antimatter universe.
Oswald did not return after the first season, but he continued to work widely in American and European television until the 1980s.