Robert Joseph Markell (April 12, 1924 - January 25, 2020) was an artist, engineer, and award-winning

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of a television show, 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 acce ...

and

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

of television series, movies and mini-series.

Early life and education

Robert Markell was born in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

on April 12, 1924. He earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree in 1944 and an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts in 1965 from

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...

. After college, Markell worked for the Grumman Aircraft Company in 1944-1946 as a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

and

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

in Boston until 1948. In 1948, he became a student at the

Art Students League The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

.''Archives and Special Collections Finding Aids: Robert Markell''
Northeastern University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections. Web. Accessed 19 September 2014.

Film career

Markell began his film career as a

scenic designer Scenic may refer to: * Scenic design * Scenic painting * Scenic overlook * Scenic railroad (disambiguation) * Scenic route * Scenic, South Dakota, United States * Scenic (horse), a Thoroughbred racehorse Aviation * Airwave Scenic, an Austr ...

CBS-TV CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

, where he worked from 1949 to 1959. During that time, he also had the opportunities to take on

roles, one of which landed him an

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 ...

. From 1959 to 1960, he was the associate producer for

Playhouse 90 ''Playhouse 90'' is an American television anthology drama series that aired on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 134 episodes. The show was produced at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology drama series of t ...

. He moved on to produce the classic TV courtroom drama The

Defenders Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to: * Defense (military) * Defense (sports) ** Defender (association football) Arts and entertainment Film, television, and theatre Film * ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary * ''The D ...

during the years 1961–65, winning two Emmy awards. Between 1967 and 1969, he produced the popular television show NYPD, starring Jack Warden, Robert Hooks and Frank Converse. NYPD featured one of the earliest performances by Al Pacino, who guest starred as a bigoted southerner. In 1973, he became the

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

of dramatic programs for CBS-TV. Markell received

awards in 1954, 1962, 1963, 1964, and 1976, and the Screen Producers Guild Award in 1962 and 1963.

"We were free to do anything we wanted, to say anything we wanted. And we weren't afraid of being fired or anything like that. We kind of knew our limits so we weren't that extravagant. The Golden Age of Television was an age where everybody was learning. There were no experts, so there was nobody to tell us what to do." -Bob Markell
Bob Markell Interview
'. Archive of American Television. Web. Accessed 22 October 2014.

Executive producer roles

*Nicky's World (1974)''Bob Markell - Filmography''. The New York Times. Web. Accessed 23 November 2014. *Dain Curse (1978) * Bicentennial Minutes (1974-1976) *Word (1979) *You Can't Go Home Again (1979) *If Tomorrow Comes (1986) *

At Mother's Request ''At Mother's Request'' is a 1987 two-part television miniseries based on a true story (the Franklin Bradshaw murder). The movie stars E.G. Marshall and Stefanie Powers. Plot summary Frances Schreuder is a mother who is mean to her sons and so ...

(1987)

Producer roles

(1959-1960) *

NYPD The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

(1967-1969) * Dr. Cook's Garden (1971) *Tattered Web (1972) *Murder Once Removed (1972) *Settle the Score (1990)

Art director roles

*You Are There (1954) * 12 Angry Men (1957)

Later life

After retiring from his film career, Markell spent his time painting and printmaking. He experimented in etching, monoprints, oil and acrylic paintings, and was known for his studies of the nude figure on the East End of the Island. His work has been on display in numerous exhibits, galleries, and the

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

.
Bob Markell
'. Web. Accessed 16 October 2014.

References

External links

*
Stony Brook University Special Collections, Robert J. Markell
{{DEFAULTSORT:Markell, Bob 1924 births 2020 deaths Artists from Boston Television producers from Massachusetts Primetime Emmy Award winners Northeastern University alumni