Burton Denis Metcalfe (March 19, 1935 – July 27, 2022) was a Canadian-American film and television producer, director, screenwriter, and actor.

Biography

Burton Denis Metcalfe was born in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

, but grew up in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and latterly in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He received his bachelor's degree in theater in 1955 from

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. In 1956, he was drafted as an enlisted man into the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, serving two years. He was stationed at Ream Field, San Ysidro, California, where he held a public relations position. During this period, Metcalfe acting as the lead, working closely with some of his fellow enlisted comrades created the "Miss Angel" beauty contest. An "Angel" in Navy terms meaning a helicopter that would swoop in saving downed pilots who ditched their aircraft in the sea and in some cases on land. Ream Field at that time was virtually the "helicopter capitol of the world". In 1959, Metcalfe had a small role in the movie '' Gidget'', as Lord Byron, the existentialist surfer, hanging 10 with The Big Kahuna's crew. That same year, he was cast as Tom Easton, a young

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

officer, in the episode " Indian Emily" on the

syndicated television Broadcast syndication is the practice of content owners leasing the right to broadcast their content to other television stations or radio stations, without having an official broadcast network to air it on. It is common in the United States whe ...

anthology series An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different ca ...

, ''

Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American Western (genre), Western 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 was ...

''. Metcalfe was cast as Don Martin, one of the neighbors thrown into a panic in a 1960 episode of

Rod Serling Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter and television producer best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his Anthology series, anthology television series ''The Twilight Zone (1 ...

's ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

'' titled " The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street". In 1960–1961, Metcalfe landed an acting role as Joe Brigham in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

sitcom ''

Happy Happiness is a complex and multifaceted emotion that encompasses a range of positive feelings, from contentment to intense joy. It is often associated with positive life experiences, such as achieving goals, spending time with loved ones, ...

'', and from 1961 to 1962, starred on the

CBS 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 Entertainme ...

sitcom '' Father of the Bride'', based on the 1950 film. Between 1962 and 1965, Metcalfe made three guest appearances on '' Perry Mason'': as Richard Campion in "The Case of the Polka-Dot Pony," murderer John Lathrop in "The Case of the Careless Kidnapper," and Jeffrey Mills in "The Case of the Thermal Thief." His most notable work was as a writer for the hit

series ''

M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (an acronym for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richa ...

'' and he was the only producer to stay with the TV series during its entire run from 1972 to 1983. Originally the series' associate producer, Metcalfe was promoted to line producer in 1976 when

Larry Gelbart Larry Simon Gelbart (February 25, 1928 – September 11, 2009) was an American television writer, playwright, screenwriter, director and author, most famous as a creator and producer of the television series '' M*A*S*H'', and as co-writer of the ...

left the series and then to executive producer in 1977, when Gene Reynolds moved on. He then moved to Warner Bros. Television in the mid-1980s, until he joined

MTM Enterprises MTM Enterprises (also known as MTM Productions) was an American independent production company established in 1969 by Mary Tyler Moore and her then-husband Grant Tinker to produce ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' for CBS. The name for the produc ...

as executive producer-director of various projects/sitcoms on November 24, 1986, where he had joined as an independent production house an in effort to expand MTM's strategy beyond primetime television to include off-net markets and cable/pay cable.

Career achievements

Metcalfe was nominated 13 times for

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

s for his work as a writer on the series ''M*A*S*H'' between 1975 and 1983. Metcalfe also served as the executive producer for the ''M*A*S*H 30th Anniversary Reunion Special'', which aired on FOX in September 2002.

Personal life

Metcalfe was married to and divorced from Toby Richman. On December 31, 1979, he married actress Jan Jorden, who is best known for her recurring role as a nurse on ''

''. Metcalfe died from sepsis at a hospital in Los Angeles, on July 27, 2022, aged 87.

Partial filmography

*''

The Bridges at Toko-Ri ''The Bridges at Toko-Ri'' is a 1954 American war film about the Korean War and stars William Holden, Grace Kelly, Fredric March, Mickey Rooney, and Robert Strauss (actor), Robert Strauss. The film, which was directed by Mark Robson (film dire ...

'' (1954) – Military Police Sergeant (uncredited) *'' The Space Children'' (1958) – Guard (uncredited) *''

Steve Canyon ''Steve Canyon'' is an American Action-adventure comics, action-adventure comic strip by cartoonist Milton Caniff. Launched shortly after Caniff retired from his previous strip, ''Terry and the Pirates (comic strip), Terry and the Pirates'', ''S ...

'' (1958) – Buckley *'' Gidget'' (1959) – Lord Byron *'' Don't Give Up the Ship'' (1959) – Lt. Bond (uncredited) *''

'' (1960) – Don Martin (season 1 episode " The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street") *'' The Canadians'' (1961) – Constable Springer *'' Diamonds Are Forever'' (1971) – Agent Maxwell (uncredited)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Metcalfe, Burt 1935 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American screenwriters American film producers American male television actors American television producers Businesspeople from Saskatchewan Canadian emigrants to the United States Film producers from Saskatchewan Canadian television producers Deaths from sepsis in the United States Film directors from Saskatchewan Infectious disease deaths in California People from Saskatoon Military personnel from California University of California, Los Angeles alumni