''Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre'' is an American

anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a dif ...

, sponsored by

Chrysler Corporation Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automotiv ...

, which ran on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

from 1963 through 1967. The show was hosted by

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with ...

, but it had a variety of formats, including musical, dramatic, and comedy.

Overview

The program included such events as an adaptation of ''

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich ''One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich'' (russian: links=no, italics=yes, Один день Ивана Денисовича, Odin den' Ivana Denisovicha, ) is a short novel by the Russian writer and Nobel laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, first p ...

'', starring

Jason Robards Jason Nelson Robards Jr. (July 26, 1922 – December 26, 2000) was an American actor. Known as an interpreter of the works of playwright Eugene O'Neill, Robards received two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the Cannes ...

(from the 1962 novel by

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Russian novelist. One of the most famous Soviet dissidents, Solzhenitsyn was an outspoken critic of communism and helped to raise global awareness of political repr ...

); ''

The Seven Little Foys ''The Seven Little Foys'' is a Technicolor in VistaVision 1955 comedy film directed by Melville Shavelson starring Bob Hope as Eddie Foy. One highlight of the film is an energetic tabletop dance showdown sequence with Bob Hope as Eddie Foy a ...

'', starring

Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the ...

, Eddie Foy Jr. and the Osmond Brothers; ''Think Pretty'', a musical starring

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...

and

Barrie Chase Barrie Chase (born October 20, 1933) is an American actress and dancer. Early life Born in Kings Point, New York, Chase began formal dance lessons at age three, studying with the New York City Opera's ballet mistress. She studied ballet, first ...

; and

Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, singer, television star and vaudeville performer. He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit an ...

in "Time for Elizabeth", a televised adaptation of a play that Marx and Norman Krasna wrote in 1948. Generally, each episode ran for an hour, although for some 'special presentations', NBC expanded the broadcast time to 90 minutes. Hope was paid US$25,000 ($ in dollars ) per week for those episodes he merely introduced, and US$500,000 ($ in dollars ) for those in which he starred. Hope's performances consisted of his typical joke- and celebrity-filled blackout sketches. These were usually called ''Chrysler Presents a Bob Hope Special''. Every season, Hope traveled to

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

for

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

, to entertain the troops. Actors who appeared in episodes included

Phyllis Avery Phyllis Avery (November 14, 1922-May 19, 2011) was an American actress. Early life Phyllis Avery was born to screenwriter Stephen Morehouse Avery and his wife Evelyn Martine Avery.

John Cassavetes John Nicholas Cassavetes ( ; December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. First known as a television and film actor, Cassavetes also helped pioneer American independent cinema, writing and direc ...

Broderick Crawford William Broderick Crawford (December 9, 1911 – April 26, 1986) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actor, often cast in tough-guy roles and best known for his Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning portrayal of Willie Stark in ''All th ...

Angie Dickinson Angeline Dickinson (née Brown; born September 30, 1931) is an American actress. She began her career on television, appearing in many anthology series during the 1950s, before gaining her breakthrough role in ''Gun the Man Down'' (1956) wit ...

Peter Falk Peter Michael Falk (September 16, 1927 – June 23, 2011) was an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the long-running television series '' Columbo'' (1968–1978, 1989–2003), for which he ...

Sean Garrison Sean Garrison (October 19, 1937 – March 2, 2018) was an American film, television and theatre actor. He played Mark Dominic in the 1966 film '' Moment to Moment''. Garrison also played The Culhane in the American western television series ''Du ...

Sam Levene Sam Levene (born Scholem Lewin; August 28, 1905 – December 28, 1980) was a Russian Empire-born American Broadway, film, radio, and television actor and director. In a career spanning over five decades, he appeared in over 50 comedy and dr ...

, Jack Lord,

Carol Lynley Carol Lynley (born Carole Ann Jones; February 13, 1942 – September 3, 2019) was an American actress known for her roles in the films ''Blue Denim'' (1959) and '' The Poseidon Adventure'' (1972). Lynley was born in Manhattan to an Irish ...

, Ida Lupino, George Maharis,

Darren McGavin Darren is a masculine given name of uncertain etymological origins. Some theories state that it originated from an Anglicisation of the Irish first name Darragh or Dáire, meaning "Oak Tree". According to other sources, it is thought to come from ...

Dina Merrill Dina Merrill (born Nedenia Marjorie Hutton; December 29, 1923 – May 22, 2017) was an American actress, heiress, socialite, businesswoman, and philanthropist. Early life Merrill was born in New York City on December 29, 1923, but for man ...

Hugh O'Brian Hugh O'Brian (born Hugh Charles Krampe; April 19, 1925 – September 5, 2016) was an American actor and humanitarian, best known for his starring roles in the ABC Western television series ''The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp'' (1955–1 ...

Suzanne Pleshette Suzanne Pleshette (January 31, 1937 – January 19, 2008) was an American theatre, film, television, and voice actress. Pleshette started her career in the theatre and began appearing in films in the late 1950s and later appeared in prominent ...

, Cliff Robertson,

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship ''Enterpris ...

, Robert Stack,

Robert Wagner Robert John Wagner Jr. (born February 10, 1930) is an American actor of stage, screen, and television. He is known for starring in the television shows '' It Takes a Thief'' (1968–1970), ''Switch'' (1975–1978), and '' Hart to Hart'' (1979� ...

Stuart Whitman Stuart Maxwell Whitman (February 1, 1928 – March 16, 2020) was an American actor, known for his lengthy career in film and television. Whitman was born in San Francisco and raised in New York until the age of 12, when his family relocated to ...

Shelley Winters Shelley Winters (born Shirley Schrift; August 18, 1920 – January 14, 2006) was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades. She appeared in numerous films. She won Academy Awards for ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959) and ''A Patch o ...

, and Robert Young. Notable directors included

Sydney Pollack Sydney Irwin Pollack (July 1, 1934 – May 26, 2008) was an American film director, producer and actor. Pollack directed more than 20 films and 10 television shows, acted in over 30 movies or shows and produced over 44 films. For his film '' Out ...

Stuart Rosenberg Stuart Rosenberg (August 11, 1927 – March 15, 2007) was an American film and television director whose motion pictures include ''Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), ''Voyage of the Damned'' (1976), '' The Amityville Horror'' (1979), and ''The Pope of Gree ...

Sam Peckinpah David Samuel Peckinpah (; February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American film director and screenwriter. His 1969 Western epic ''The Wild Bunch'' received an Academy Award nomination and was ranked No. 80 on the American Film Institut ...

, Ida Lupino, and

Daniel Petrie Daniel Mannix Petrie (November 26, 1920 – August 22, 2004) was a Canadian film, television, and stage director who worked in Canada, Hollywood, and the United Kingdom; known for directing grounded human dramas often dealing with taboo subject ...

. Several episodes were rerun from 1968 through 1972 under several different titles: ''NBC Adventure Theatre'' (1971–1972), ''NBC Action Playhouse'' (1971–1972), ''NBC Comedy Playhouse'' (1968–1970) and ''NBC Comedy Theater'' (1971–1972). The Hope introductions were replaced by other hosts, such as

Peter Marshall Peter Marshall may refer to: Entertainment * Peter Marshall (entertainer) (born 1926), American game show host of ''The Hollywood Squares'', 1966–1981 * Peter Marshall (author, born 1939) (1939–1972), British novelist whose works include ''T ...

(who hosted "Action"),

Art Fleming Arthur Fleming Fazzin (May 1, 1924 – April 25, 1995) was an American actor and television host. He hosted the first version of the television game show ''Jeopardy!'', which aired on NBC from 1964 until 1975 and again from 1978 to 1979. E ...

("Adventure" in 1971), Ed McMahon ("Adventure" in 1972), Monty Hall ("Comedy Playhouse" in 1968) and Jack Kelly ("Comedy Playhouse" in 1970, and "Comedy Theater"). In syndication, the series was presented as ''Universal Star Time'' and ''Theatre of the Stars'', minus Hope's opening and closing segments. Several of the dramatic episodes of the series aired in Britain on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

as ''Impact'', which also included episodes of '' Kraft Suspense Theatre''.

Awards and nominations

The show won a total of seven

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

and was nominated for six more. Among them were the following: For her performance in the episode "Two is the Number" (1964),

won for outstanding lead actress in a miniseries or movie. Simone Signoret won for outstanding lead actress for her performance in "A Small Rebellion" (1966) which also starred

as theatre owner Noel Greb and George Maharis as playwright Michael Kolinos. Cliff Robertson won for outstanding lead actor for his performance in "The Game" (1966).

Rod Steiger Rodney Stephen Steiger (; April 14, 1925July 9, 2002, aged 77) was an American actor, noted for his portrayal of offbeat, often volatile and crazed characters. Cited as "one of Hollywood's most charismatic and dynamic stars," he is closely assoc ...

won for outstanding lead actor for his performance in "A Slow Fade to Black" (1964).

was nominated for directing "Something About Lee Wiley" (1963), and won for directing "The Game" (1966).

Rod Serling Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, and narrator/on-screen host, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his anthology television series ...

won for writing the episode, "It's Mental Work" (1964). Additionally, the show was nominated twice for the Directors Guild of America Award and twice for the

Edgar Allan Poe Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

References

External links

*
''Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre'' at CVTA
{{WritersGuildofAmericaAnthologyAnyLength 1963 American television series debuts 1967 American television series endings 1960s American anthology television series Chrysler NBC original programming English-language television shows Television series by Universal Television