Alan A. Armer (7 July 1922 – 5 December 2010) was an

American television Television is one of the major mass media outlets in the United States. , household ownership of television sets in the country is 96.7%, with approximately 114,200,000 American households owning at least one television set as of August 2013. ...

producer, best known for his Emmy-award winning tenure as the producer of '' The Fugitive''. He also produced ''

The Invaders ''The Invaders'' is an American science-fiction television series created by Larry Cohen that aired on ABC for two seasons, from 1967 to 1968. Roy Thinnes stars as David Vincent, who after stumbling across evidence of an in-progress invas ...

'', '' The Untouchables'' and the first year of ''

Cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder duri ...

''.

Early life

Born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, Armer received a bachelor's degree in speech and drama from Stanford University, a master's degree in

theatre arts Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

and an honorary doctoral degree from

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 un ...

Career

After college, Armer started his entertainment career at a

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transm ...

station in San Jose where he worked as an announcer. After moving back to Los Angeles in search of a radio job, Armer began working at an advertising agency that specialized in television ads. In that role, Armer later wrote, acted in, directed, narrated and edited television commercials. From there, Armer and a relative by marriage

Walter Grauman Walter E. Grauman (March 17, 1922 – March 20, 2015) was an American director of stage shows, films and television shows. Early life Grauman was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Jacob and Irene Grauman, both children of German immigrants who ...

developed their own television show, '' Lights, Camera, Action'', which aired on NBC affiliate KNBH for three years. He later was hired by the station as a floor manager and then director. He later went on to

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...

, where he produced several television series, including ''

My Friend Flicka ''My Friend Flicka'' is a 1941 novel by Mary O'Hara, about Ken McLaughlin, the son of a Wyoming rancher, and his mustang horse Flicka. It was the first in a trilogy, followed by ''Thunderhead'' (1943) and ''Green Grass of Wyoming'' (1946). The p ...

'' and '' Broken Arrow''. Armer later became executive producer for '' The Untouchables''. He joined

QM Productions Quinn Martin (born Irwin Martin Cohn; May 22, 1922 – September 5, 1987) was an American television producer. He had at least one television series running in prime time every year for 21 straight years (from 1959 to 1980). Martin is a membe ...

where he produced '' The Fugitive'' for which he received the Television Academy's

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

, ''

'', and the first year of ''

''. For his work on ''The Fugitive'', Armer won a 1965 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America, a "Most Popular Series" award from TV Guide Magazine and a Producers Guild Award. He later became a member of the Producers Guild's

Television Hall of Fame The Television Academy Hall of Fame honors individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to U.S. television. The hall of fame was founded by former Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) president John H. Mitchell (1921–1988). In ...

. In 1980, he became a part-time faculty member at California State University, Northridge, and eventually became a full professor and head of the Screenwriting Option, of the Cinema and Television Arts Department. Armer taught directing, as well as all levels of screenwriting.

Death

Armer died of

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

on December 5, 2010 at his

Century City, California Century City is a 176-acre (71.2 ha) neighborhood and business district in Los Angeles, California. Located on the Westside to the south of Santa Monica Boulevard around 10 miles (16 km) west of Downtown Los Angeles, Century City is one of ...

home.

References

External links

* * 1922 births 2010 deaths American television writers American male television writers Television producers from California American television directors Writers from Los Angeles Edgar Award winners Screenwriting instructors Stanford University School of Humanities and Sciences alumni Deaths from colorectal cancer Deaths from cancer in California University of California, Los Angeles alumni Screenwriters from California {{US-film-bio-stub