Frederick de Cordova

Infobox actor
name = Frederick de Cordova


caption = Frederick de Cordova
birthdate = October 27, 1910
birthplace = New York City, New York
deathdate = September 15, 2001
deathplace = Woodland Hills, Los Angeles

Frederick "Fred" Timmins de Cordova (October 27, 1910 - September 15, 2001) was an American motion picture and television director and producer. He was best known for his work on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson".

De Cordova was born in New York City, New York, the son of Margaret (née Timmins) and George de Cordova, who worked in the theatre business. [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/62/Frederick-De-Cordova.html Frederick De Cordova Biography (1910-2001) ] ] In his 1988 autobiography, de Cordova described his parents as con artists who, during his early years, lived well and skipped town without paying. He received an undergraduate degree in liberal arts in 1931 from Northwestern University. [ [http://www.northwestern.edu/magazine/northwestern/winter2001/classnotes/inmemoriam.htm Winter 2001 Class notes ] ] cite news|last = Bergan|first = Ronald|title=Frederick De Cordova: Film director famed for embarrassing Ronald Reagan with a chimp |date=2001-09-15|publisher=The Guardian|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,3604,554082,00.html|access date = 2006-07-28]

His first theater credit was as a performer in "Elmer the Great" (1928). After his graduation from Harvard Law School in 1933, he gained employment in the Shubert Theater organization and directed stage shows for the next ten years. cite news|last = Martin|first = Douglas|title = Fred De Cordova, TV Producer, Dies at 90|pages = C1|publisher = The New York Times|date = 2001-09-18] He was variously a performer, stage manager, stage director, and finally dialogue director, the last in "Ziegfield Follies of 1943". [cite web
title = Frederick De Cordova
publisher = Internet Broadway Database
url = http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?id=36326
accessdate = 2006-07-28 ]

He was a dialogue director in five films, including "To Have and Have Not" (1944). His first film directing job was “Too Young To Know" (1945) for Warner Brothers. He directed 23 movies. One of the better known was "Bedtime for Bonzo" (1951) starring a chimpanzee and future President Ronald Reagan. He also directed Rock Hudson, Errol Flynn, Tony Curtis, Audie Murphy, Yvonne de Carlo, Bob Hope and Humphrey Bogart. Much of his career was at Universal Studios, where he was known for turning out entertaining pictures quickly, even with difficult actors, and on a low budget. [ cite news
last = Erickson
first = Hal
title = Frederick de Cordova
work = Biography
publisher = The New York Times
url = http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/filmography.html?p_id=17695
accessdate = 2006-07-28 ] His last film was "Frankie and Johnny" (1966) with Elvis Presley. cite web
title = Biography for Frederick De Cordova
publisher = IMDb
url = http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0208111/bio
accessdate = 2006-07-28 ]

He turned to directing television when there was less need for low budget movies to serve as the second half of a double feature. His skills were perfect for TV. In 1950 his TV career started with directing "The Jack Benny Program", on which he appeared several times as himself, including an episode in which Johnny Carson appeared as himself, a recent new host of the Tonight Show and during which he stated he had worked in that exact studio as an usher and had emulated Jack Benny and many of his mannerisms,Fact|date=July 2008 "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show". Among other programs he directed are "The George Gobel Program", "December Bride", "Leave It To Beaver", "My Three Sons", and "The Smothers Brothers Show". He directed and/or produced more than 500 tv series or segments. He directed "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" starting in 1970. [cite web
title = The Johnny Carson Show website (says he started in 1970)
url = http://www.johnnycarson.com/carson/bio_fred.jsp
accessdate = ] using the name Fred de Cordova. [ cite web
title = Biography for Johnny Carson (I)(says de Cordova started in 1962)
publisher = IMDb
url = http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001992/bio
accessdate = 2006-07-28 ] He became producer of the show in 1970 and executive producer in 1984. He described his job as “..chief traffic cop, talent scout, No. 1 fan and critic all rolled into one" in a 1981 interview. de Cordova was described as “.. a large, looming, beaming man with horn-rimmed glasses, an Acapulcan tan, and an engulfing handshake that is a contract in itself, complete with small print and an option for renewal on both sides.” [cite web
last = Tynan
first = Kenneth
title = Fifteen Years of the Salto Mortale
publisher = The New Yorker
date = 1978-02-20, posted Jan 24, 2005
url = http://www.newyorker.com/archive/content/?050124fr_archive03
accessdate = 2006-07-28 ] He was executive producer when the final Carson show signed off in 1992. He won five Emmys for his work on the show.cite web
title = FREDERICK DE CORDOVA Died Sept. 15, 2001
publisher = Entertainment Insiders
url = http://www.einsiders.com/features/columns/sept01obituaries.php
accessdate = 2006-07-28]

During tapings of the "Tonight Show", de Cordova would sit in a chair just beyond the guests' couch so that he could cue Carson directly and speak with him during commercial breaks. By the 1980s Carson would occasionally speak to de Cordova during the show, although usually the moment would pass so quickly that there would be no time to give de Cordova a microphone or catch him on camera.

These awkward exchanges became an object of parody. An episode of "SCTV" aired in 1981 featured a sketch of "The Freddie de Cordova Show". [ [http://sctvguide.ca/episodes/sctv_s3.htm#Show_20 SCTV Guide - Episodes - Series 3 ] ] The segment was almost an exact copy of the "Tonight Show", except the host's desk was empty; de Cordova conducted all of his interviews from his usual perch off-camera. On the real program in 1988, as a takeoff on the installation of lights in Wrigley Field, Carson ceremonially installed a light on the edge of the set to that de Cordova could finally be seen.

He married former actress Janet Thomas in 1963, and they remained married for the rest of his life. He died of natural causes at the Motion Picture and Television Fund Hospital in Woodland Hills, California on September 15, 2001. [cite web
title = Longtime Carson foil Fred De Cordova dies
publisher = Associated Press
date = 2001-09-17
url = http://www.showmenews.com/2001/Sep/20010917News010.asp
accessdate = 2006-07-28 ]

Further reading

*Bernstein, F., "Traffic cop, talent scout, critic. Fred De Cordova keeps Carson's Tonight Show on track" People Weekly, 22:131-2. October 8, 1984
*de Cordova, Fred, "Johnny Came Lately: An Autobiography". New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988. ISBN 0-671-55849-8 (hardcover); paperback reprint edition, Pocket Books, 1989, ISBN 0-671-67082-4.

References

External links

* [http://www.johnnycarson.com/carson/bio_fred.jsp Tonight Show bio]
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8476793972431542761] Oral History by Fred De Cordova; Archive of American Television Interview with Fred de Cordova Part 1-6
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