Benjamin Eisenberg Roberts (March 23, 1916 – May 12, 1984) was an American film and television writer, producer and one of the creators of the ''

Charlie's Angels ''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts for ABC. It originally aired from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, airing for five seasons consisting of 115 episodes. It was produ ...

'' and '' Time Express'' television series. In 1958, he was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for writing the Lon Chaney biopic '' Man of a Thousand Faces''. He has also been nominated for two

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

awards and an

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

. In 1972, Roberts won a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...

for Best Television series, drama for ''

Mannix ''Mannix'' is an American detective television series that originally aired for eight seasons on CBS from September 16, 1967, to March 13, 1975. The show was created by Richard Levinson and William Link, and developed by executive producer ...

''. Roberts entered

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

at age 16, graduating three years later. By the time he was 22, Roberts was successfully running his own independent public-relations counseling firm and was contributing comedy material to several Broadway musicals. In 1941, he collaborated with another young writer, Ivan Goff, on the theatrical suspense thriller ''Portrait in Black''. He briefly worked in films in the early 1940s, returned to the stage for six years, then settled in Hollywood permanently in 1949. All of his subsequent film efforts, as both screenwriter and producer, were in collaboration with his old friend Goff. The pair contributed to the success of such varied projects as '' White Heat'' (1949), ''

Captain Horatio Hornblower ''Captain Horatio Hornblower'' is a 1951 British naval swashbuckling war film in Technicolor from Warner Bros., produced by Gerry Mitchell, directed by Raoul Walsh, that stars Gregory Peck, Virginia Mayo, Robert Beatty and Terence Morgan. ...

'' (1951), '' Shake Hands with the Devil'' (1959) and ''

Midnight Lace ''Midnight Lace'' is a 1960 American psychological thriller film directed by David Miller (director), David Miller and starring Doris Day, Rex Harrison, John Gavin, Myrna Loy, and Roddy McDowall. The plot centers on a woman threatened by an anon ...

'' (1960); and in 1957, they shared an Academy Award nomination for their scriptwork on ''Man of a Thousand Faces'' (1957). Roberts and Ivan Goff were also executive producers for the weekly television series ''

'' and '' Nero Wolfe''.

References

External links

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Ben Roberts Obituary in New York Times
1916 births 1984 deaths Writers from Brooklyn Screenwriters from New York City American television writers American male television writers Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American male writers American television show creators {{US-tv-writer-stub