Joseph Henry Hamilton Jr. (January 6, 1929 – June 9, 1991) was an American

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon ...

and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

Career

Beginning his career as a singer and composer with a vocal group, The Skylarks, Hamilton became the producer of ''

The Garry Moore Show ''The Garry Moore Show'' is the name for several separate American variety series on the CBS television network in the 1950s and 1960s. Hosted by experienced radio performer Garry Moore, the series helped launch the careers of many comedic talent ...

'' in 1958, where actress

Carol Burnett Carol Creighton Burnett (born April 26, 1933) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and writer. Her groundbreaking comedy variety show ''The Carol Burnett Show'', which originally aired on CBS was one of the first of its kind to be hosted ...

was a regular. With The Skylarks, he appeared on many early television programs, including

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during ...

's. He also appeared in two 1964 episodes of ''

The New Phil Silvers Show ''The New Phil Silvers Show'' is an American situation comedy television series starring Phil Silvers which centers around a factory foreman who is always involved in get-rich-quick schemes. Original episodes aired from September 28, 1963, until A ...

''. Joe appeared in several episodes of The Andy Griffith Show as a bystander who made fun of Deputy Barney Fife (Don knotts) for overreacting to simple situations. He worked with Burnett on the short-lived

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp ...

The Entertainers ''The Entertainers'' is a one-hour American variety show which aired on CBS from September 25, 1964 through March 27, 1965. Produced by Joe Hamilton, the series featured three hosts: Hamilton's then-wife Carol Burnett, Bob Newhart, and Cater ...

'' and her long-running eponymous series, ''The Carol Burnett Show'', as executive producer and composer of its theme song. He made one brief appearance (albeit on a poster) as Duke Reeves on ''

Mama's Family ''Mama's Family'' is an American sitcom television series starring Vicki Lawrence as Mama (Thelma Harper). The series is a spin-off of a recurring series of comedy sketches called " The Family" featured on ''The Carol Burnett Show'' (1967–78 ...

''. was Executive Producer of ''Mama's Family'' for its 130 episode run, with the first 30 episodes on NBC (1982-1984) and then for the 100-episode syndicated version, produced independently for Lorimar Telepictures, from 1986-1990. Prior to this, he was Executive Producer of ''The Tim Conway Show'' in 1980-81. He was Executive Producer of the ''Eunice'' TV movie, which he and Burnett commissioned, and which spawned ''Mama's Family'', despite Thelma "Mama" Harper dying in the TV movie. Hamilton won five Emmy Awards, the first for ''

'', which featured Burnett. Hamilton also wrote Burnett's famous theme song, which she sang to end her show each week, “I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together”.

Personal life

Hamilton was the brother of television actress

Kipp Hamilton Kipp Hamilton (born Rita Marie Hamilton; August 16, 1934 – January 29, 1981) was an American actress. She was the younger sister of producer Joe Hamilton and the sister-in-law of Carol Burnett. Early life and family She was born Rita Mari ...

. Hamilton’s first marriage (April 10, 19481963), to Gloria Hartley, produced eight children. He married

on May 4, 1963. They had three children, including

Carrie Hamilton Carrie Louise Hamilton (December 5, 1963 – January 20, 2002) was an American actress, playwright and singer. Hamilton was a daughter of comedian Carol Burnett and producer Joe Hamilton. She was also the older sister of Jody Hamilton, an ac ...

, before divorcing in 1984. He married Sandy Troggio in 1991, before dying of cancer that same year on June 9. He is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery.

Actor

* ''

Sea Hunt ''Sea Hunt'' is an American action adventure television series that aired in syndication from 1958 to 1961 and was popular for decades afterwards. The series originally aired for four seasons, with 155 episodes produced. It stars Lloyd Bridges a ...

'' (1960) - Season 2, Episode 5

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Joe American television producers American male composers Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City Deaths from cancer in California 1929 births 1991 deaths 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American composers 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American male musicians