Unsung heroes of TV
These are the people behind the small screen that are responsible for so much. These are the writers, the producers, the directors, and the creators. These are the true "stars" of television. Listed in no particular order, I tried to include the talented people that I am mostly familiar with. I truly wish to thank them for all that they have done.
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- Writer
- Producer
- Music Department
Howard Leeds, the sitcom veteran who developed The Facts of Life and produced and wrote for The Brady Bunch, Diff'rent Strokes and Silver Spoons,
In the late 1970s, Leeds was a producer on the hit Diff'rent Strokes, starring Conrad Bain and child star Gary Coleman, when he was asked by NBC head Fred Silverman and producer Norman Lear to come up with a spin-off.
The Facts of Life debuted in August 1979 and ran for more than 200 episodes over nine seasons, from 1979-88. The comedy - which also tackled serious issues - revolved around a group of teenage girls attending a private New York boarding school. Helping them along the way was their no-nonsense, compassionate housemother Edna Garrett (Charlotte Rae, who had played a wisecracking maid on Diff'rent Strokes).
Leeds created two other '80s popular sitcoms starring youngsters: Silver Spoons, with Ricky Schroder as the center of a wealthy clan, and Small Wonder, about a family with a cute robot daughter (Tiffany Brissette).
Earlier, Leeds had produced 92 episodes of The Brady Bunch from 1970-74 and guided such shows as My Living Doll, The Ghost & Mrs. Muir and Hello, Larry.
Leeds was born on June 27, 1919, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He and his parents came to Los Angeles, and he graduated from Fairfax High School in 1937.
After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he returned to L.A. and worked at MGM. His first credit came in 1952 as a writer on CBS' Meet Millie, the radio hit turned TV program that starred Elena Verdugo.
He wrote for The Red Skelton Hour starting in 1953 and three years later was nominated for an Emmy Award for best comedy writing for his work on The George Gobel Show (Lear and his partner, Bud Yorkin, also wrote for that comedy).
Leeds later wrote for The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show, Bachelor Father, The Bob Cummings Show, Make Room for Daddy, My Three Sons, Bewitched and Barney Miller, and for variety specials top-lined by Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Dean Martin, Andy Williams, Tom Jones, Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball and Benny Hill.
From 1976-78, he served as executive producer of drama and comedy for television and motion pictures for Reg Grundy Productions of Australia.- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
- Producer
Bob Schiller was born on 8 November 1918 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Maude (1972), All in the Family (1971) and Flip (1970). He was married to Sabrina Scharf and Joyce Gloria Harris. He died on 10 October 2017 in Pacific Palisades, California, USA.- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Producer
Jay Sandrich was born on 24 February 1932 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was a director and assistant director, known for The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970), The Cosby Show (1984) and Soap (1977). He was married to Linda Green Silverstein and Nina Kramer. He died on 22 September 2021 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Writer
Tony Thomas was born on 7 December 1948 in Hollywood, California, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for Dead Poets Society (1989), The Golden Girls (1985) and Insomnia (2002). He has been married to Ann Souder since 24 September 2005.- Producer
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Sid Krofft was born on 30 July 1929 in Athens, Greece. He is a producer and writer, known for Land of the Lost (2009), Pryor's Place (1984) and Land of the Lost (1974).- Producer
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Marty Krofft was born on 9 April 1937 in Montréal, Québec, Canada. He was a producer and writer, known for Land of the Lost (2009), Pryor's Place (1984) and Land of the Lost (1974). He was married to Christa Rogalski (Christa Speck). He died on 25 November 2023 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Producer
- Director
- Production Manager
Jerry Thorpe was born on 29 August 1926 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was a producer and director, known for Kung Fu (1972), The MacKenzies of Paradise Cove (1979) and The Venetian Affair (1966). He was married to Dee Turnell. He died on 25 September 2018 in Santa Barbara, California, USA.- Producer
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Lloyd J. Schwartz has been successful TV, motion pictures and theatre. Beginning with his work as a dialogue coach on his father, Sherwood Schwartz's series, "It's About Time," "Gilligan's Island" and "The Brady Bunch," he swiftly rose to producer and with Sherwood became the only father/son producing team in the business. That was after he was part of a black/white comedy team, Carruthers and Blood" in the late 1960s. He has written and/or produced episodes of many series including"The Brady Bunch," "Alice," "Love:American Style," "The Love Boat," The A Team, "The Munsters Today," "Safe at Home, " "Baywatch," etc. He was an executive in current comedy at ABC and oversaw "Happy Days" "Laverne and Shirley," "Three's Company," and "What's Happening" before he became a writer/producer on that series. Two of his TV movies: "Rescue from Gilligan's Island," and "A Very Brady Christmas" were the highest rated TV movies of the year. He has sold feature film scripts to Cheech and Chong and to David Permut. That script, "Independence" is currently in development. He has written and directed "One Dozen" a comedy based on his play of the same name and produced "The Brady Bunch Movie," and "A Very Brady Sequel." Also, Lloyd has had forty-three plays produced beginning with his co-authorship of The Nearlyweds" which is the first play specifically written for dinner theater. Just as in TV where he has been multi-faceted and has written, produced and/or directed in mini-series, half hour one camera shows, three camera shows, hour dramas, in theatre he has been equally versatile and has written produced and/directed comedies, dramas and musicals. Many of his plays are historical, and Lloyd has produced plays about John Wilkes Booth, Mary Walker, Mark Twain and Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, Rasputin, Marshal Petain. Two of his one person plays: "Independence,' and "And Evening with John Wilkes Booth" play colleges around the country. He and his wife Barbara Mallory founded Storybook Theatre of Los Angeles at Theatre West and have plays there for the past 35 years. Lloyd has written the book, music, lyrics and/or directed all 18 of those shows. The latest Brady permutation is "A Very Brady Reconstruction" which will air in 2019 with Lloyd as consulting producer. That means that some variation has been on the air in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s, and the teens.- Writer
- Producer
- Music Department
Jess Oppenheimer (November 11, 1913 - December 27, 1988)
Lucille Ball called Jess Oppenheimer "the brains" behind I Love Lucy (1951), and with good reason. As series creator, producer, and head writer, "Jess was the creative force behind the 'Lucy' show," confirms director William Asher. "He was the field general. Jess presided over all the meetings, and ran the whole show. He was very sharp."
Born in San Francisco on November 11, 1913, Oppenheimer attended Stanford University in the 1930s, during radio's "golden age." Drawn to radio comedy, he wangled a visit during his junior year to the studios of radio station KFRC in San Francisco, where he soon found himself spending every spare moment. He penned a comedy routine and quickly made his broadcasting debut, performing his own material coast-to-coast on the station's popular comedy-variety program, "Blue Monday Jamboree."
In 1936, he made the short hop down to Hollywood, where, through a combination of skill and impeccable timing, he managed to land a writing job on the Fred Astaire radio program on his first day in town. When Astaire left the airwaves a year later, Oppenheimer became a gag writer for Jack Benny, then tackled comedy writing chores for such other variety programs as the "Chase and Sanborn Hour with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy," "The Lifebuoy Program starring Al Jolson," "The Gulf Screen Guild Show," and "The Rudy Vallee Program." As a staff writer on those programs, Oppenheimer wrote sketch comedy for many of Hollywood's biggest stars, including Fred Allen, Tallulah Bankhead, Charles Boyer, Fanny Brice, George Burns and Gracie Allen, James Cagney, Gary Cooper, Joan Crawford, Bing Crosby, Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich, Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Bob Hope, William Powell, Ginger Rogers, Barbara Stanwyck, James Stewart, and Spencer Tracy.
With the advent of World War II, Oppenheimer joined the United States Coast Guard and was promptly posted to the Public Relations Department. The sailor at the next desk was a young agent named Ray Stark, who happened to be the son-in-law of the renowned comedienne and musical star, Fanny Brice. Stark promptly hired Oppenheimer to write for the popular radio program, "Baby Snooks," which starred Fanny Brice as a wise-beyond-her-years little girl who constantly drove her daddy crazy. It marked Oppenheimer's introduction to the sitcom form. During his six years on the show, he learned the ins and outs of plotting character-driven comedy.
In 1948, shortly after "Baby Snooks" went off the air, Oppenheimer accepted an assignment from CBS to write a script for the network's struggling new radio sitcom, "My Favorite Husband." The show starred Lucille Ball, one of the few stars in Hollywood with whom he had never worked. In the handful of episodes that had already aired, Ball had played "Liz Cugat," a "gay, sophisticated," socialite wife of a bank vice president--quite the opposite of the "Snooks" character Oppenheimer had been writing.
After watching Lucille Ball at rehearsal, Oppenheimer decided to make her character more like Snooks: less sophisticated, more childlike, scheming, and impulsive--taking Lucy and the show in a new direction, with broad, slapstick comedy. His instincts paid off big time: Lucy took to her new role like a fish to water, and the show was a huge success. Recognizing a good thing, CBS quickly signed Oppenheimer as the show's head writer, producer, and director, and in no time the series gained both a sponsor and a much larger audience. "My Favorite Husband" also marked the beginning of Oppenheimer's successful collaboration with "I Love Lucy" writers Madelyn Davis and Bob Carroll Jr..
In December, 1950, when CBS agreed to produce a TV pilot starring Lucille Ball and her husband, Desi Arnaz, Lucy insisted on Oppenheimer to head up the project. With the completed pilot due in just a few weeks, there was just one problem--nobody knew what the series should be about. Everyone asked, "What do you do with a comedienne and a Cuban orchestra leader?" Oppenheimer had a million dollar idea: "Why don't we do a show," he suggested, "about a middle-class working stiff who works very hard at his job as a bandleader, and likes nothing better than to come home at night and relax with his wife, who doesn't like staying home and is dying to get into show business herself?" He decided to call the show "I Love Lucy."
He remained as producer and head writer of the series for five of its six seasons, writing the pilot and 153 episodes with Madelyn Pugh Davis and Bob Carroll Jr. (joined in the 1955 by writers Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf). He appeared on the show twice: in Episode #6 ("The Audition"), as one of the three TV executives for whom Ricky performs at the Tropicana, and in Episode #127 ("The Tour"), as an extra who walks in front of the Hollywood Tour Bus just before Lucy and Ethel get on board. His voice can also be heard in Episode #30 ("Lucy Does a TV Commercial") as the sound man who tells Lucy to "go ahead" and begin her commercial for "Vitameatavegamin."
Oppenheimer left "I Love Lucy" in 1956 to take an executive post at NBC, where he produced a series of landmark TV specials, including the General Motors 50th Anniversary Show (1957), Ford Startime (1959), _The Ten Commandments (1959) (TV)_, and the "1959 Emmy Awards." Oppenheimer and Ball were reunited when he produced _The Danny Kaye Show with Lucille Ball (1962) (TV)_, which was nominated as "Program of the Year" by the TV Academy, and again two years later when he executive produced a "Lucille Ball Comedy Hour" entitled Mr. and Mrs. (1964), starring Lucille Ball and Bob Hope.
During the 1960s Oppenheimer created and produced three sitcoms: Angel (1960)(starring Annie Fargue and Marshall Thompson), Glynis (1963) (starring Glynis Johns), and The Debbie Reynolds Show (1969). His other TV credits include The United States Steel Hour (1953) (writer), Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre (1963) (producer), and Get Smart (1965) (writer, producer, and director). He received two Emmy Awards and seven other Emmy nominations, a Sylvania Award, and the Writers' Guild of America's Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television Achievement.
An avid inventor, Oppenheimer held 18 patents covering a variety of devices, including the in-the-lens teleprompter used by everyone from news anchors to presidents, and first used by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz on a 1953 TV commercial for Philip Morris cigarettes. Upon his passing on December 27, 1988, Lucille Ball called Jess Oppenheimer "a true genius," adding, "I owe so much to his creativity and his friendship." His best-selling memoir, "Laughs, Luck...and Lucy: How I Came to Create the Most Popular Sitcom of All Time" (www.lucynet.com) was completed after his death by his son, Gregg Oppenheimer.- Writer
- Producer
- Music Department
Sherwood Schwartz was born on 14 November 1916 in Passaic, New Jersey, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Gilligan's Island (1964), The Red Skelton Hour (1951) and The Running Man (1987). He was married to Mildred Schwartz. He died on 12 July 2011 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Writer
- Producer
- Script and Continuity Department
Madelyn Davis was born on 15 March 1921 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. She was a writer and producer, known for I Love Lucy (1951), The Tom Ewell Show (1960) and Yours, Mine & Ours (2005). She was married to Dr. Richard Merrill Davis and Quinn Martin. She died on 20 April 2011 in Bel-Air, California, USA.- Writer
- Actress
- Additional Crew
Jean Rouverol was born on 8 July 1916 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. She was a writer and actress, known for It's a Gift (1934), Bar 20 Rides Again (1935) and Guiding Light (1952). She was married to Hugo Butler. She died on 24 March 2017 in Wingdale, New York, USA.- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
- Producer
Bob Weiskopf started his prolific career writing jokes in 1940 and later wrote for Eddie Cantor, Fred Allen, Danny Thomas, Red Skelton, Phyllis Diller and Carol Burnett. He also wrote for many TV sitcoms including I Love Lucy, won Emmys for All in the Family and the Flip Wilson Show.- Writer
- Producer
- Script and Continuity Department
Bob Carroll Jr. was born August 12, 1918, in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. At the age of three, Carroll and his family moved to St. Petersburg, Florida. His interest in writing was sparked when as a teenager he entered a radio contest, submitting a script he had written while laid up in bed recovering from a hip ailment; his submission won first prize.
In his early twenties he left for Los Angeles, where he landed a job as an usher with CBS radio affiliate KNX. After a stint in the mail room, he was promoted to the writing staff.
In the late 1940s, along with Madelyn Pugh Davis, who became his writing partner for more than 60 years, he was working on comedian Steve Allen's radio show when he learned that Lucille Ball was looking for writers for her radio show, "My Favorite Husband." Conning Allen into writing his own show one week, the writing duo took the time to write a prospective script to submit to Ball. Ball loved the submission, and Carroll and Davis became the first permanent writers on "My Favorite Husband."
When the show moved to television in 1951, Ball took her writers with her, changing the name of the program to "I Love Lucy" and adding real-life husband Desi Arnaz to the cast.
Carroll and Pugh worked on every episode of the long-running show, as well as many episodes of "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour," "The Lucy Show," "Here's Lucy" and "Life With Lucy." "Life With Lucy" would be Ball's last show, and it went off the air in 1986, just three years before her death. Carroll and Davis developed the "Lucy formula" that was the mainstay of all her series and won Ball generations of fans. Each of the shows had the basic premise of Lucy developing a bizarre scheme to achieve what she wanted and having the entire plan turn into a pratfall-filled disaster, but Lucy is normally forgiven because of her well-intentioned motives.
Carroll and Davis also collaborated on several other projects, including the 1968 film "Yours, Mine and Ours" and the short-lived Desi Arnaz-produced sitcom "The Mothers-In-Law."
Carroll also wrote and produced the 1977 television special "Lucy Calls the President." This show has been rarely seen since its original airing and is considered by many Lucy fans a must-see. The show, which had Ball playing a concerned mother who calls then-President Jimmy Carter to complain about a federal housing project that would destroy a children's camp, was used as mini-reunion show that reunited Lucy with her longtime co-stars Vivian Vance and Gale Gordon, and it had a star-studded supporting cast. The special also proved to be the last on-screen appearance for Vance and Ball.
Bob Carroll also had several noted projects outside of working with Lucille Ball. He served as a producer and sometime writer for the successful sitcom "Alice" starring Linda Lavin and the short-lived but Golden Globe-nominated "The Paul Lynde Show."
Bob Carroll died of natural causes on January 27, 2007, at the age of 88. He had been married and divorced twice and he was survived by a daughter.- Script and Continuity Department
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Milt Josefsberg was born on 29 June 1911 in New York, USA. He was a writer, known for All in the Family (1971), The Jack Benny Program (1950) and The Lucy Show (1962). He died on 14 December 1987 in Burbank, California, USA.- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
- Music Department
Robert O'Brien was born on 8 May 1918 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for Say One for Me (1959), Lady on a Train (1945) and The Lucy Show (1962). He was married to Lina Romay. He died on 7 November 2005 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Writer
- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Writer
- Producer
- Director
- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Director
Paul Junger Witt was born on 20 March 1941 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a producer and director, known for Dead Poets Society (1989), The Golden Girls (1985) and Three Kings (1999). He was married to Susan Harris and Ann Elizabeth McLaughlin. He died on 27 April 2018 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
Brian Cooke was born on 13 December 1937 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, UK. He is a writer, known for George & Mildred (1976), Man About the House (1973) and Starting from Scratch (1988).- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
- Additional Crew
Johnnie Mortimer's name was not widely known but he was the author of many of television's best known and most fondly remembered comedies. Television critics seldom gave him the credit his talents deserved but his success was unique. With his partner and longtime friend Brian Cooke he wrote series after series which invariably made the Top 10 in the programme-rating charts.
Like many other comedy writers and comedians, Mortimer began as a cartoonist, a hard, demanding occupation where rejection was the rule rather than the exception. But it was this experience and flair as a cartoonist which taught him the lessons of brevity and pace in comedy. The joke had to be made in a single frame.
Radio comedy and partnership with Cooke followed in the early Sixties. They wrote for Round the Horne with great success, leaving them with a lasting affection and admiration for Kenneth Horne. It was in the mid-Sixties that Mortimer turned to television under contract to ABC - the company which later merged with Rediffusion to become Thames. To his eternal credit he wrote for Tommy Cooper - a considerable feat because Cooper's one-liners were so specialised and unique.
In sketch comedy - perhaps the hardest area of television comedy because of the number of ideas it consumes in a single programme - Mortimer and Cooke wrote two series for Bernard Cribbins. Then followed a quite extraordinary run of situation comedies. Father Dear Father, first broadcast in 1968, starring Patrick Cargill, and Man About the House (1973) with Richard O'Sullivan, Paula Wilcox and Sally Thomsett. The latter series produced two notable spin-offs. The landlord and landlady from Man About the House, played by Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce, were such a popular creation that they were given their own series George and Mildred (1976). And Robin Tripp, alias Richard O'Sullivan, was launched in his own series with Tessa Wyatt Robin's Nest (1977). Never the Twain (1981), created by Mortimer and starring Donald Sinden and Windsor Davies, remains one of Thames Television's longest-running series.
In addition to his own writing, for eight years Mortimer was comedy adviser to Thames, guiding and helping other writers and contributing ideas to the Light Entertainment Department.
And his success was not confined to Britain alone. Man About the House has the distinction of becoming one of the biggest situation comedy successes in the United States with a cast headed by John Ritter and under the title Three's Company. The US series ran for eight years, starting in 1976, and totalled 174 episodes. George and Mildred and Robin's Nest were also exported to the States but neither could equal the phenomenal success of Three's Company.
Throughout all his years of success as a comedy writer, Mortimer remained totally professional and organised. Deadlines and delivery dates were always met and his office at Teddington Studios featured a wall-chart showing exactly when scripts were to be available. Final drafts would be preceded by a detailed outline of 10 or a dozen pages, often including sample dialogue, and each scene would have a note of the expected duration. The final script would seldom stray from the outline.
Johnnie Mortimer was a great professional and people across the world will be laughing at his programmes for many years to come.- Writer
- Producer
- Script and Continuity Department
Don Nicholl was born on 9 August 1925 in England, UK. He was a writer and producer, known for Three's Company (1976), All in the Family (1971) and The Jeffersons (1975). He was married to Gee Nicholl. He died on 5 July 1980 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Writer
- Producer
- Script and Continuity Department
Michael Ross was born on 4 August 1919 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Three's Company (1976), All in the Family (1971) and The Jeffersons (1975). He was married to Irene Saslaw. He died on 26 May 2009 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Writer
- Producer
- Script and Continuity Department
Bernard West was born on 30 May 1918 in Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Three's Company (1976), All in the Family (1971) and The Jeffersons (1975). He was married to Miriam 'Mimi' Berman. He died on 29 July 2010 in Beverly Hills, California, USA.- Writer
- Producer
- Actor
Garry Kent Marshall (November 13, 1934 - July 19, 2016) was an American actor and filmmaker. He started his career in the 1960s writing for The Lucy Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show before he developed Neil Simon's 1965 play The Odd Couple for television in 1970. He gained fame for creating Happy Days (1974-1984), Laverne and Shirley (1976-1983), and Mork and Mindy (1978-1982). He is also known for directing Overboard (1987), Beaches (1988), Pretty Woman (1990), Runaway Bride (1999), and the family films The Princess Diaries (2001) and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004). He also directed the romantic comedy ensemble films Valentine's Day (2010), New Year's Eve (2011), and Mother's Day (2016).- Writer
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Jerry Belson was born on 8 July 1938 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for The Tracey Ullman Show (1987), The Odd Couple (1970) and Always (1989). He was married to Jo Ann Harris and Linnea Vivi-Ann Flogell. He died on 10 October 2006 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Writer
- Producer
- Actor
Neil Simon was born on 4 July 1927 in The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for The Odd Couple (1968), Murder by Death (1976) and The Goodbye Girl (1977). He was married to Elaine Joyce, Diane Lander, Marsha Mason and Joan Baim. He died on 26 August 2018 in New York City, New York, USA.- Writer
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Michael G. Moye was born on 11 August 1954 in the USA. He is a writer and producer, known for The Jeffersons (1975), Married... with Children (1987) and It's Your Move (1984). He has been married to Rose Jackson since 1996. They have one child.- Writer
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Michael Leeson was a writer and producer, known for Grand (1990), The War of the Roses (1989) and The Tuxedo (2002). He died on 27 July 2016.- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Producer