- Danny Arnold
-
Danny Arnold Born Arnold Rothmann
23 January 1925
New York City, New York, U.S.Died 19 August 1995 (aged 70)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.Danny Arnold (23 January 1925 – 19 August 1995) was an American producer, writer, comedian, actor and director known for producing Barney Miller, That Girl and Bewitched.
Life and career
Arnold was born Arnold Rothmann[1] in New York City, New York. He was best known for writing and producing such high-quality television sitcoms as Bewitched and That Girl. Over his career, he won two Emmy Awards, one for My World and Welcome to It and one for the series for which he is most famous, Barney Miller. This latter show also won Arnold a Peabody Award. He was honored with the Paddy Chayefsky Award in 1985 by the Writer's Guild of America to celebrate his lifetime of achievement. A native of New York City, Arnold started out acting in summer stock and doing comedy in Vaudeville, but began his career in Hollywood at Columbia Pictures as a sound editor in 1944. He appeared in films as an actor opposite the hot young comic duo Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis and also wrote the screenplay for the Martin and Lewis vehicle The Caddy (1953). In 1956, Arnold started writing for such television series as The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show and The Rosemary Clooney Show. He started contributing to television sitcoms in 1963. Though his subsequent work was popular with audiences, Arnold frequently butted heads with TV executives regarding issues of content and fair shooting schedules. Television sitcom writer/director Ken Levine described Arnold as "Brilliant, unpredictable (a nice term for bi-polar), demanding, and kind."[2] Tapings on Barney Miller became legendary for lasting into the wee hours as Arnold worked on rewrites;[3] due to these extended tapings the show in its later seasons ceased having a live audience.[4]
Regarding Bewitched, which he produced for its first season, Arnold noted "With this show, I saw a great opportunity to accomplish something. Fantasy can always be a jumping-off place for more sophisticated work."[5] While working on Barney Miller, Arnold became so sick of the constant network battles that he founded his own distribution company Pro-Synd, Inc., so he could syndicate shows as he wished, but with the cancellation of his subsequent series Joe Bash and Stat, his plans with Miller never came to fruition. He eventually sued regarding what he felt was the unfair sharing of the profits from Barney Miller and got a $50 million settlement.[6] On August 28, 1986, Danny Arnold sold his production company Four D Productions, Inc. to Coca-Cola's Columbia Pictures Television Group for $50 million after Arnold dropped the Federal and state lawsuits against Columbia Pictures Television accusing them for antitrust violations, fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty.[7][8] Danny Arnold died in Los Angeles from heart failure.
References
- ^ http://www.filmreference.com/film/53/Danny-Arnold.html
- ^ Writing for Barney Miller
- ^ Barney Miller (entry on Old TV Tickets blog)
- ^ "Bewitched": The Year of Danny Arnold
- ^ "TV's Witch to Watch" Pageant April 1965
- ^ "Stat Man Danny Arnold" Entertainment Weekly May 3, 1991
- ^ "Columbia Pictures Television Group acquires Four D Productions Inc.". PR Newswire. August 28, 1986. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-4349754.html. Retrieved 2011-05-01.
- ^ "COMPANY NEWS; Coke Suit Pact". New York Times. August 30, 1986. http://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/30/business/company-news-coke-suit-pact.html?scp=1&sq=Four%20D%20Productions%20sold%20to%20Coke&st=cse. Retrieved 2011-05-17.
External links
Categories:- 1925 births
- 1995 deaths
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