1.
Red Skelton
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Richard Bernard Red Skelton was an American entertainer. He was best known for his radio and television acts between 1937 and 1971, and as host of the television program The Red Skelton Show. Skelton began developing his comedic and pantomime skills from the age of 10 and he then spent time on a showboat, worked the burlesque circuit, then entered into vaudeville in 1934. The Doughnut Dunkers, a sketch of how different people ate doughnuts written by Skelton and his wife launched a career for him in vaudeville, in radio. Skeltons radio career began in 1937 with a guest appearance on The Fleischmanns Yeast Hour which led to his becoming the host of Avalon Time in 1938. He became the host of The Raleigh Cigarette Program in 1941 where many of his characters were created and had a regularly scheduled radio program until 1957. Skelton made his debut in 1938 alongside Ginger Rogers and Douglas Fairbanks. He was most eager to work in television, even when the medium was in its infancy, the Red Skelton Show made its television premiere on September 30,1951, on NBC. By 1954, Skeltons program moved to CBS, where it was expanded to one hour, despite high ratings, his television show was cancelled by CBS in 1970 as the network believed more youth-oriented programs were needed to attract younger viewers and their spending power. Skelton moved his program to NBC, where he completed his last year with a regularly scheduled show in 1971. After he no longer had a program, Skeltons time was spent making up to 125 personal appearances a year. Skeltons artwork of clowns remained a hobby until 1964 when his wife, Georgia, sales of his originals were successful and Skelton also sold prints and lithographs of them, earning $2.5 million yearly on lithograph sales. At the time of his death, his art dealer believed that Skelton had earned money through his paintings than from his television work. Skelton believed his lifes work was to make people laugh, he wanted to be known as a clown because he defined it as being able to do everything and he had a 70-year career as a performer and entertained three generations of Americans during this time. Born on July 18,1913, in Vincennes, Indiana, Richard Skelton was the fourth and youngest son of Ida Mae, Joseph, a grocer, died two months before Richard was born, he had once been a clown with the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus. During Skeltons lifetime there was some dispute about the year of his birth, author Wesley Hyatt suggests that since he began working at such an early age, Skelton may have claimed he was older than he actually was in order to gain employment. Because of the loss of his father, Skelton went to work as early as the age of seven, selling newspapers and doing odd jobs to help his family. He quickly learned the newsboys patter and would keep it up until a prospective buyer bought a copy of the paper just to quiet him, when the man asked Skelton what events were going on in town, Skelton suggested he see the new show in town
2.
Carl Reiner
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Carl Reiner is an American actor, director, producer, and writer of comedy whose career spans nearly seven decades. During the early years of comedy, from 1950 to 1957, he co-wrote and acted on Caesars Hour and Your Show of Shows. In the 1960s Reiner was best known as the creator, producer, writer, Reiner played a comedy duo in 2000 Year Old Man with Mel Brooks, and acted in films such as The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming and the Oceans Trilogy. Reiner has won twelve Emmy Awards and one Grammy Award during his career and he is the father of actor and director Rob Reiner and author Annie Reiner. Reiner was born in the Bronx, New York City, New York on March 20,1922, the son of Irving, who was a watchmaker and his parents were Jewish immigrants, his mother from Romania and his father from Austria. His older brother Charlie served in the 9th Divisions 37th Infantry at 11 major World War II battles and had his ashes buried at Arlington National Cemetery. At age 16, Charlie read in the New York Daily News about a dramatic workshop being put on by the Works Progress Administration. His uncle Harry Mathias was the first entertainer in his family and he had been working as a machinist repairing sewing machines. He credits Charlie with changing his career plans, Reiner was drafted into the Army Air Forces in 1943 and served during World War II, eventually achieving the rank of corporal. During language training, he had his first experience as a director, in 1944, after completing language training, he was sent to Hawaii to work as a teleprinter operator. The night before he was to out for an unknown assignment. Following an audition for actor and Major Maurice Evans, he was transferred to the Special Services, Reiner performed around the Pacific theater, entertaining troops in Hawaii, Guam, Saipan, Tinian, and Iwo Jima for the next two years. Reiner performed in several Broadway musicals and had the role in Call Me Mister. In 1950, he was cast by producer Max Leibman in Sid Caesars Your Show of Shows, appearing on air in skits while also working alongside writers, such as Mel Brooks and Neil Simon. Reiner also worked on Caesars Hour with Brooks, Simon, Larry Gelbart, Mel Tolkin, Mike Stewart, Aaron Ruben, Sheldon Keller, starting in 1960, Reiner teamed with Brooks as a comedy duo on The Steve Allen Show. Their performances on television and stage included Reiner playing the man in 2000 Year Old Man. Eventually, the routine expanded into a series of 5 comedy albums, the act gave Brooks an identity as a comic performer for the first time, said Reiner. Brookss biographer, William Holtzman, called their 12-minute act a jazz improvisation
3.
James L. Brooks
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James Lawrence Jim Brooks is an American director, producer and screenwriter. Growing up in North Bergen, New Jersey, Brooks endured a fractured family life, after dropping out of New York University, he got a job as an usher at CBS, going on to write for the CBS News broadcasts. He moved to Los Angeles in 1965 to work on David L. Wolpers documentaries, after being laid off he met producer Allan Burns who secured him a job as a writer on the series My Mother the Car. Brooks wrote for several shows before being hired as an editor on My Friend Tony. Grant Tinker hired Brooks and Burns at MTM Productions to create The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1970, the show, one of the first to feature an independent working woman as its lead character, was critically acclaimed and won Brooks several Primetime Emmy Awards. Brooks and Burns then created two successful spin-offs from Mary Tyler Moore in the shape of Rhoda and Lou Grant, Brooks left MTM Productions in 1978 to co-create the sitcom Taxi which, despite winning multiple Emmys, suffered from low ratings and was canceled twice. Brooks moved into film work when he wrote and co-produced the 1979 film Starting Over. His next project was the acclaimed film Terms of Endearment. Basing his next film, Broadcast News, on his journalistic experiences, although his 1994 work Ill Do Anything was hampered by negative press attention due to the cutting of all of its recorded musical numbers, As Good as It Gets earned further praise. It was seven years until his film, 2004s Spanglish. His sixth film, How Do You Know, was released in 2010, Brooks also produced and mentored Cameron Crowe on Say Anything. And Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson on Bottle Rocket, in 1984, Brooks founded the television and film company, Gracie Films. Although he did not intend to do so, Brooks returned to television in 1987 as the producer of The Tracey Ullman Show and he hired cartoonist Matt Groening to create a series of shorts for the show, which eventually led to The Simpsons in 1989. The Simpsons won numerous awards and is still running, Brooks also co-produced and co-wrote the 2007 film adaptation of the show, The Simpsons Movie. In total, Brooks has received 47 Emmy nominations, winning 20 of them, Brooks was born James Lawrence Brooks on May 9,1940 in Brooklyn, New York, United States, and raised in North Bergen, New Jersey. His parents, Dorothy Helen and Edward M. Brooks, were both salespeople, the Brooks family was Jewish, Edward Brooks changed his surname from Bernstein and claimed to be Irish. Brooks father abandoned his mother when he found out she was pregnant with him, during the pregnancy, Brooks father sent his wife a postcard stating that If its a boy, name him Jim. His mother died when he was 22 and he has an older sister, Diane, who helped look after him as a child and to whom he dedicated As Good As It Gets
4.
David Angell
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David Lawrence Angell was an American producer of sitcoms. Angell won multiple Emmy Awards as the creator and executive producer, along with Peter Casey and David Lee, Angell and his wife Lynn both died heading home from their vacation in Cape Cod aboard American Airlines Flight 11. This was the first plane to hit the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks, Angell was born in Providence, Rhode Island, to Henry and Mae Angell. He received a degree in English Literature from Providence College. He married Lynn Angell on August 14,1971, soon after Angell entered the U. S. Army upon graduation and served at the Pentagon until 1972. He then moved to Boston and worked as a methods analyst at an engineering company and his brother, the late Most Rev. Kenneth Angell, was a Roman Catholic prelate and former Bishop of Burlington, Angell moved to Los Angeles in 1977. His first script was sold to the producers of the Annie Flynn series, five years later, he sold his second script to Archie Bunkers Place. In 1983, he joined Cheers as a staff writer, in 1985, Angell joined forces with Peter Casey and David Lee as Cheers supervising producers/writers. After working together as producers on Cheers, Angell, Casey, in 1990, they created and executive-produced the comedy series Wings. The episode was first broadcast on May 27,1997,4 years and 3 months later, Angell, in 2004, The Angell Foundation of Los Angeles, California awarded Providence College a gift of $2 million for the Smith Center for the Arts. Season 9, Episode 2, of Frasier, airing on September 25,2001, ended with the tribute, In loving memory of our friends Lynn. Season 11, Episode 24 Goodnight, Seattle, the finale which aired May 13,2004. At the National 9/11 Memorial, Angell and his wife are memorialized at the North Pool, on Panel N-1, David Angell at the Internet Movie Database
5.
Dave O'Brien (actor)
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Dave OBrien was an American film actor, director and writer. Born David Poole Fronabarger in Big Spring, Texas, OBrien started his career in bit parts before gradually winning larger roles. OBrien was best known to audiences in the 1940s as the hero of the famous Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer comedy short film series Pete Smith Specialties narrated by Pete Smith. OBrien wrote and directed many of subjects under the name David Barclay. OBrien also had a dancing part with Bebe Daniels in the Busby Berkeley musical 42nd Street. He also appeared in many low-budget Westerns, often billed as Tex OBrien, to modern audiences, he is most likely best to be remembered as a frantic dope addict in the 1936 low-budget exploitation film Tell Your Children, yelling Play it faster, play it faster. He appeared in Queen of the Yukon as Bob Adams, in 1940, he appeared in The Devil Bat as part of a comedy team with Donald Kerr. They also appeared together in Son of the Navy and The Man Who Walked Alone, in 1942, OBrien starred in the movie serial Captain Midnight, and had the lead role in the western Brand of the Devil in 1944. One of his roles was in the MGM musical version of Kiss Me, Kate. OBrien married one of his co-stars of Reefer Madness, Dorothy Short, in 1936, in 1955, he married Nancy OBrien and had three more children. A very keen yachtsman and sailor, he died aged 57 of a heart attack aboard a 60-foot sloop named The White Cloud while competing in a race off the California coast near Catalina Island. Dave OBrien at the Internet Movie Database
6.
Sherwood Schwartz
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Sherwood Charles Schwartz was an American television producer. He worked on shows in the 1940s, and created the television series Gilligans Island on CBS. On March 7,2008, Schwartz, at the still active in his 90s, was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. That same year, Schwartz was also inducted into the Television Hall of Fame, Schwartzs entertainment career came by accident. He relocated from New York to southern California to pursue a Master of Science degree in Biology, in need of employment, he began writing jokes for Bob Hopes radio program, for which Schwartzs brother, Al Schwartz, worked. Schwartz recalled that Hope liked my jokes, used them on his show, then he asked me to join his writing staff. I was faced with a major decision—writing comedy or starving to death while I cured those diseases, I made a quick career change. He went on to write for Ozzie Nelsons The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Schwartz was a writer on the Armed Forces Radio Network before he got his break in television. He went on to create and produce Gilligans Island and The Brady Bunch and he wrote the theme song for three of his shows, Gilligans Island, Its About Time, and The Brady Bunch. Syndication turned his two major successes into TV institutions with cultural relevance and he made them icons, and as a result he became a television icon. During the late 1990s and the 2000s, he made appearances on TV talking about his series, on shows such as the CBS Evening News, 20/20, TV Lands Top Ten. He also took part in a Creators marathon on Nick at Nite in the late 1990s and he was also a guest at the 2004 TV Land Awards. In 1988, Schwartz appeared on The Late Show with Ross Shafer for a Gilligans Island reunion and this was the last time they were all together on television. He also appeared as himself in a 1995 episode of Roseanne titled Sherwood Schwartz, A Loving Tribute, Schwartz was born in Passaic, New Jersey to a Jewish family. His parents were Herman and Rose Schwartz and he was a younger brother of writer Al Schwartz. His younger brother, Elroy Schwartz, a writer, became a principal screenwriter for Gilligans Island. Sherwood Schwartz is the uncle of Douglas Schwartz, Bruce Schwartz, sherwoods play, Rockers, a comedy-drama had a production at Theatre West in honor of his 90th birthday. On a Robin Hood-themed episode of The Beverly Hillbillies, a states that Sherwood Forest is a relative of Sherwood Schwartz
7.
Buck Henry
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Henry Zuckerman, credited as Buck Henry, is an American actor, writer, film director, and television director. He has been nominated for an Academy Award twice, in 1968 for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Graduate, Henry attended The Choate School and Dartmouth College, where he met Bob Rafelson, and also worked on the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern humor magazine. Henrys dry humor attracted attention in the entertainment community and he became a cast member on TV programs such as The New Steve Allen Show and That Was The Week That Was. He was a co-creator and writer for Get Smart, with Mel Brooks and he also played Dr. Victor Rudman, a fractile scientist who dated Murphy, on the My Dinner With Einstein episode of Murphy Brown. He appeared on the television show Will and Grace in 2005, in 2007, he made two guest appearances on The Daily Show as a contributor, billed as the shows Senior Senior Correspondent. He has also appeared as Liz Lemons father, Dick Lemon, in the 30 Rock episodes Ludachristmas, in 2011, he appeared in a multi-episode arc of Hot in Cleveland as Elkas groom. Henry hosted NBCs Saturday Night Live 10 times between 1976 and 1980 and it became a tradition in those years for him to host the final show of each season. Henry also hosted the live remote attempted by SNL, broadcast live from Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Henrys frequent host record would be broken when Steve Martin hosted the 14th season finale in 1989, during the October 30,1976 episode, Buck Henry was injured in the forehead by John Belushis katana in the samurai sketch. Henrys head began to bleed and he was forced to wear a bandage on his forehead for the rest of the show. As a gag, the members of the SNL cast each wore a bandage on their foreheads as well, uncle Roy, a single, pedophilic babysitter who disguises his attempts at molesting the children hes watching as games. He co-directed Heaven Can Wait, the 1978 remake of Here Comes Mr. Jordan and his many writing credits include Candy, The Owl and the Pussycat, Whats Up, Doc. Catch-22, The Day of the Dolphin, Protocol, and To Die For and he shared an Oscar nomination for his screenplay, The Graduate, a film in which he made a cameo appearance. In 1997, Henry was the recipient of the Austin Film Festivals Distinguished Screenwriter Award and his Broadway credits include the 2002 revival of Mornings at Seven. Off-Broadway in July 2009, he starred opposite Holland Taylor in Mother, the Troublemaker The Graduate Candy Catch-22 The Owl and the Pussycat Is There Sex After Death
8.
Ed. Weinberger
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Weinberger is an American screenwriter and television producer. Born and raised in Philadelphia, the son of a Jewish butcher. Weinberger began his TV career after he dropped out of Columbia University, writing for such comedians as Dick Gregory, Richard Pryor. His first job in television was writing for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and he also wrote for The Bob Hope Special, The Bill Cosby Show, and The Dean Martin Variety Hour. Weinberger, along with James L. Brooks, David Davis, Allan Burns, in 1977, they left for Paramount Pictures and started the John Charles Walters Company. Weinberger also played Mr. Walters in the logo, the series Taxi was created the following year. He also wrote and co-created The Cosby Show, which ran for eight years, Weinberger went on to create and executive produce several other sitcoms, including Amen, Dear John, Baby Talk, and Sparks. Weinberger has won a Peabody Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and nine Emmy Awards and he has also received the Writers Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award. He has been married to TV actress Carlene Watkins since 1984, with his son, Jack, Weinberger wrote and produced the musical play Mary and Joseph, which had a national tour in 2007-08. Weinberger explained in 2000 that he began using the abbreviation Ed. when he was eight years old, in 2012, he sued two former business managers, claiming they had failed to obtain revenue for him from his work on Amen. His case was dismissed in 2013 by the Los Angeles Superior Court. Archived from the original on 2008-02-07, life After Divorce, in the Taxi Spirit. Weinberger at the Internet Movie Database
9.
Diane English
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Diane English is an American screenwriter, producer and director, best known for creating the television show Murphy Brown and writing and directing the 2008 feature film, The Women. English was born in Buffalo, New York, the daughter of Anne English and she graduated from Nardin Academy in Buffalo, New York, and then from Buffalo State College in 1970. English began her career at WNET, the PBS affiliate in New York City, working first as an editor for The Theatre in America series. From 1977 to 1980, she wrote a column on television for Vogue magazine. In 1980, she co-wrote PBS The Lathe of Heaven, an adaptation of Ursula K. LeGuins classic science fiction novel of the same name and she followed that with the television movies Her Life as a Man for NBC and Classified Love for CBS. In 1985, English created her first half-hour comedy series, Foley Square and it starred Margaret Colin, Hector Elizondo, Michael Lembeck, and Jon Lovitz. The show premiered on December 11,1985, and languished near the bottom of the Nielsen ratings in the weeks that followed, after being put on hiatus after only eleven episodes CBS rescheduled it to another night and aired the 3 remaining episodes of the season. With ratings low CBS was quick to cancel the show after only fourteen episodes with the last episode airing on April 8,1986, in 1988, she created the CBS television series, Murphy Brown, for which she won three Emmy Awards. The series ran from 1988 to 1998 for a total of 247 episodes and it garnered 18 Emmy wins from 62 nominations. In 1992, English stirred up controversy when the character decided to have a child out of wedlock. Vice president Dan Quayle gave a speech entitled Reflections on Urban America to the Commonwealth Club of California on the subject of the Los Angeles riots, in this speech, Quayle blamed the violence on a decay of moral values and family structure in American society. W. English also created the comedy series Love & War for CBS which starred Susan Dey, other series she co-created and/or executive produced include Double Rush, Ink, and The Louie Show starring Louie Anderson for CBS, and Living in Captivity for FOX. Unfortunately non of the series were picked up for more than a season with The Louie Show only lasting 6 episodes. In 2008, English wrote, produced and directed The Women, the comedy, a remake of the 1939 George Cukor film of the same name, stars Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, and Jada Pinkett Smith. It was released to negative reviews but tripled its budget when worldwide markets are factored in. That same year English and the ensemble cast of The Women were honored with the Women in Film Crystal award which honors women in communications and media
10.
Allan Burns
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Allan Burns is an American screenwriter and television producer. Burns is best known for, alongside James L. Brooks, creating and writing for the television sitcoms The Munsters, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Burns was born May 18,1935 in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. He was born and raised Christian Scientist and he attended the University of Oregon between 1953 and 1957. He is a writer for The Bullwinkle Show. Burns also produced the television shows Cutters, The Duck Factory, before breaking into television and film, Burns started in animation, working for Jay Ward and collaborating and animating The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, Dudley Do-Right, and George of the Jungle. Burns also created the Capn Crunch character for Quaker Oats, after his stint writing for Jay Ward, Burns formed a partnership with Chris Hayward. The last project between Hayward and Burns would be as story editors for the sitcom Get Smart, in 1969, Burns began a partnership with James L. Brooks after being impressed with the television pilot for Brookss show Room 222. Burns joined the Room 222 writing staff and later produced the series, after Room 222, television executive Grant Tinker hired Brooks and Burns to develop a television series for CBS starring Mary Tyler Moore. In 1970, The Mary Tyler Moore Show premiered and became an acclaimed series, spawning spin-off series such as Lou Grant. Brooks and Burns also created the 1974 situation comedy Paul Sand in Friends, Burns also wrote and produced three television series, FM, Eisenhower and Lutz, and Cutters. Burns has also done screenwriting for movies, most notably, A Little Romance for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay. He also wrote the screenplays Butch and Sundance, The Early Days, Just the Way You Are and wrote, Allan Burns at the Internet Movie Database Allan Burns interview video at the Archive of American Television
