Everett Greenbaum (December 20, 1919 – July 11, 1999) was an American television and film writer and actor who contributed to such shows as ''

The Andy Griffith Show ''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American sitcom, situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in colo ...

'' (24 Episodes), ''

M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. T ...

'' (35 Episodes), '' Love American Style'', ''

The Real McCoys ''The Real McCoys'' is an American situation comedy starring Walter Brennan, Richard Crenna, and Kathleen Nolan. Co-produced by Danny Thomas's Marterto Productions in association with Walter Brennan and Irving Pincus's Westgate Compan ...

'' (32 Episodes), ''

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'', and '' The George Gobel Show''. Greenbaum was a co-writer with Jim Fritzell of '' Mister Peepers'' an important early television show created by David Swift and starring Wally Cox. He wrote the Hollywood feature film ''

Good Neighbor Sam ''Good Neighbor Sam'' is a 1964 American Eastman Color screwball comedy film co-written and directed by David Swift, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Jack Finney. The film stars Jack Lemmon, Romy Schneider, Dorothy Provine, Michael ...

'', as well as a series of films starring

Don Knotts Jesse Donald Knotts (July 21, 1924February 24, 2006) was an American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his role as Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife on '' The Andy Griffith Show'', a 1960s sitcom for which he earned five Emmy Awards. He als ...

that included '' The Shakiest Gun in the West'', ''

The Reluctant Astronaut ''The Reluctant Astronaut'' is a 1967 American comedy film produced and directed by Edward Montagne and starring Don Knotts in a story about a carnival ride operator who is hired as a janitor at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston and is even ...

'', and '' The Ghost and Mr. Chicken''.

Life and career

Born and raised in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, Greenbaum studied at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of th ...

(MIT) and the Sorbonne in Paris. Following service as a Navy pilot during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Greenbaum moved to New York City to try his luck as a writer. He began work in radio as writer, producer and star of "Greenbaum's Gallery". He also wrote continuity for a radio series starring the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

Oscar Brand. In the mid 1950s, Greenbaum teamed with Jim Fritzell and collaborated on scripts for the TV series '' Mister Peepers'' (1952), a stylish sitcom starring Wally Cox as a timid small-town science teacher; it also gave

Tony Randall Anthony Leonard Randall (born Aryeh Leonard Rosenberg; February 26, 1920 – May 17, 2004) was an American actor. He is best known for portraying the role of Felix Unger in a television adaptation of the 1965 play '' The Odd Couple'' by Neil Si ...

his first important role. When the series was cancelled, NBC-TV received over 10,000 letters of protest. A month later ''Mr. Peepers'' returned, running for three years and winning a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

. In a 32-year partnership, Greenbaum and Fritzell also won three Writers' Guild awards and four Emmy nominations, and collaborated on more than 150 scripts. These included the Walter Brennan sitcom ''

'' (1957–62), The Andy Griffith Show (1960–68) and ''

'', on which they worked for five years, contributing 35 episodes. On his own, Greenbaum wrote two books, including the memoir ''The Goldenberg Who Couldn't Dance'', and 'The Tenth Life of Osiris Oaks' (with Wally Cox), and worked on '' The George Gobel Show''. He also acted in brief roles on ''Mr. Peeper's'' (recurring), Griffith's ''Matlock'' (recurring), and series and other programs. Greenbaum died at the age of 79 in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

; he was survived by his wife Deane, and a daughter, Billie Shane (Greenbaum). In a book published the year of Greenbaum's death, Don Knotts recalled of him, "Everett would come up with lines right out of the blue that would knock you off your seat. He also had an infectious cackle that was familiar to all his friends, and he had a multitude of friends."

Filmography

References

External links

*
Interview
TV Academy Interview of Everett Greenbaum

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenbaum, Everett 1919 births 1999 deaths American male screenwriters United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy officers Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni American television writers Writers from Buffalo, New York American male television writers Screenwriters from New York (state) 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters