Nat Perrin (March 15, 1905 – May 9, 1998) was an American comedy film, television, and radio screenwriter, producer, and director, who contributed gags and storylines to several

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...

films and co-wrote the script for the film '' Hellzapoppin''' (1941) adapted from the stage musical. He is credited with writing the screenplay or story outline for over 25 films, including '' The Big Store'' (1941), ''

The Great Morgan ''The Great Morgan'' is a 1945 American musical-comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film is considered one of the more unusual in the MGM canon in that it is a compilation film built around a slight plot line, with a running time o ...

'' (1945), and ''

Song of the Thin Man ''Song of the Thin Man'' is a 1947 murder mystery-comedy directed by Edward Buzzell. The sixth and final film in MGM's '' Thin Man'' series, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, characters created by Dashiell Hammett ...

'' (1947), as well as several television series.

Biography

Perrin was a registered attorney who never practiced; he instead worked in the publicity department for Warner Bros. in 1930. He often told the story of how he made his way into

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 ...

's dressing room in 1931 with a forged letter of introduction from

Moss Hart Moss Hart (October 24, 1904 – December 20, 1961) was an American playwright, librettist, and theater director. Early years Hart was born in New York City, the son of Lillian (Solomon) and Barnett Hart, a cigar maker. He had a younger brother ...

. Groucho was impressed with Perrin, and arranged for him to be hired by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

for the film '' Monkey Business'' (1931). The two went on to become lifelong friends. In the late 1930s, Perrin produced for

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

, moving to

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

in the 1940s. In the early 1950s, he became a producer for such TV shows as ''

The Red Skelton Show ''The Red Skelton Show'' is an American television comedy/variety show that aired from 1951 to 1971. In the decade prior to hosting the show, Richard "Red" Skelton had a successful career as a radio and motion pictures star. Although his televi ...

'' (run 1951–1971) and the anthology series ''

Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American old-time radio and television anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program ...

'' (run 1952–1970). He produced and was head writer for ''

The Addams Family ''The Addams Family'' is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 unrelated single-panel cartoons, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' over ...

'' series from 1964–1966. Beginning in the late 1970s and well into his later years, Perrin taught screenwriting and film history at

California State University Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest u ...

. His lifelong friendship with Groucho Marx, for whom he also wrote the ''

Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel ''Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel'' is a situation comedy radio show starring two of the Marx Brothers, Groucho and his older brother Chico Marx, and written primarily by Nat Perrin and Arthur Sheekman. The series was originally broadcast in the ...

'' radio shows, came to a close when Perrin served as temporary conservator of the comedian's estate in 1977. As producer for ''The Addams Family'' TV series, the character of Gomez Addams clearly contained many of the mannerisms and personality of his lifelong friend, Groucho Marx. From his rolling eyes, cigars, dialog deliver, and crazy passion for Morticia, Gomez was a lovable rogue just like Marx.

External links

* * 1905 births 1998 deaths American comedy writers American male television writers American male screenwriters Screenwriting instructors Writers from New York (state) 20th-century American comedians 20th-century American screenwriters {{US-comedian-stub