Marvin Ginsburg (February 20, 1924 – March 25, 2005), known professionally as Greg Garrison, was an American producer and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

Career

While he was a 17-year-old student at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

, Garrison worked as a

copy boy A copy boy is a typically young and junior worker on a newspaper. The job involves taking typed stories from one section of a newspaper to another. According to Bruce Guthrie, the former editor-in-chief of the ''Herald Sun'' who began work there ...

in a Chicago radio station's news department. His education and that job were interrupted by World War II. After the war, he became a director in Philadelphia. A career move took him from there to Chicago, where he created series, including '' Stand By for Crime.'' Garrison started his television career by accident at the age of 22. Among his first productions were '' The Kate Smith Show'' (

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 ...

, 1950) and ''

Your Show of Shows ''Your Show of Shows'' is a live 90-minute variety show that was broadcast weekly in the United States on NBC from February 25, 1950, through June 5, 1954, featuring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. Other featured performers were Carl Reiner, Ho ...

''. He went on to produce and direct many television specials with

Gene Kelly Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American dancer, actor, singer, director and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessibl ...

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz, May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, actor, singer, musician, choreographer, and presenter, whose career in stage, film, and television spanned 76 years. He is widely regarded as the "g ...

Donald O'Connor Donald David Dixon Ronald O'Connor (August 28, 1925 – September 27, 2003) was an American dancer, singer and actor. He came to fame in a series of films in which he co-starred, in succession, with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talki ...

and many others. Garrison directed the feature films ''

Hey, Let's Twist! ''Hey, Let's Twist!'' is a 1961 American musical film directed by Greg Garrison and written by Hal Hackady. The film stars Joey Dee, Jo Ann Campbell, Teddy Randazzo, Kay Armen, Zohra Lampert and Dino Di Luca. The film was released on Dece ...

'' (1961), and ''

Two Tickets to Paris ''Two Tickets to Paris'' is a 1962 film directed by Greg Garrison and starring Joey Dee and the Starliters. Plot An engaged couple, Joey and Piper, travel to Paris where Joey has a gig performing. Cast *Joey Dee as Joey Dee * Gary Crosby as Gar ...

'' (1962). He was probably best known for producing and directing ''

The Dean Martin Show ''The Dean Martin Show'' is a TV Variety show, variety-Television comedy, comedy series that ran from 1965 to 1974 for 264 episodes. It was broadcast by NBC and hosted by Dean Martin. The theme song to the series was his 1964 hit "Everybody Loves ...

'',

The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast ''The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast'' is an American series of television specials hosted by entertainer Dean Martin and airing from 1974 to 1984. For a series of 54 specials and shows, Martin and his friends would "roast" a celebrity. The roasts ...

s, hour-long comedy specials with

Dom DeLuise Dominick DeLuise (August 1, 1933 – May 4, 2009) was an American actor, comedian, director, musician, chef, and author. Known primarily for comedy roles, he rose to fame in the 1970s as a frequent guest on television variety shows. He is widely ...

, and summer shows with

Dan Rowan Daniel Hale Rowan (July 22, 1922 – September 22, 1987) was an American actor and comedian. He was featured in the television show ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'', in which he played straight man to Dick Martin and won the 1969 Emmy for Outsta ...

and

Dick Martin Thomas Richard Martin (January 30, 1922 – May 24, 2008) was an American comedian and director. He was known for his role as the co-host (and comic foil of Dan Rowan) of the sketch comedy program ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' from 1968 to 197 ...

Jonathan Winters Jonathan Harshman Winters III (November 11, 1925 – April 11, 2013) was an American comedian, actor, author, television host, and artist. He started performing as a stand up comedian before transitioning his career to acting in film and te ...

The Golddiggers The Golddiggers was a female singing and dancing troupe created for ''The Dean Martin Show''. They performed on TV, live tours, and internationally with the USO. The group was formed in 1968, dissolved in 1992, and reorganized in 2007. It has nu ...

, and

Marty Feldman Martin Alan Feldman (8 July 1934 – 2 December 1982) was a British actor, comedian and writer. He was known for his exophthalmos, prominent, strabismus, misaligned eyes. He initially gained prominence as a writer with Barry Took on th ...

. He also directed one of television's landmark 1960 presidential debates between

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

and

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

. Garrison also produced the highly successful The first Fifty Years, a celebration of NBC Television being on the air for fifty years. Garrison directed nearly 4,000 shows in his career. He received more than a dozen

Emmy Award 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 categor ...

nominations, although he never won.

Later years

In his later years, Garrison supervised for

Guthy-Renker Guthy-Renker ( ) is a California-based direct marketing#Direct response marketing, direct-response marketing company that sells health and beauty products directly to consumers through infomercials, television ads, direct mail, telemarketing, e- ...

the digital remastering of ''The Dean Martin Show'' and celebrity roasts for release on DVD. The marketing of these included an entertaining infomercial with clips of an interview of Garrison by host

Regis Philbin Regis Francis Xavier Philbin ( ; August 25, 1931 – July 25, 2020)Archived aGhostarchiveand thWayback Machine was an American television presenter, comedian, actor, and singer. Once called "the hardest-working man in show business", he held th ...

about his memories of producing/directing the Martin show. A close friend of

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...

, he was the executor of his estate following Welles' death in 1985.

Death

Garrison died from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

at his home in

Thousand Oaks, California Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, located in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles. Approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, it is named after the many oak trees pr ...

, on March 25, 2005, at the age of 81.

References

External links

*
Obituary
by

Mark Evanier Mark Stephen Evanier (; born March 2, 1952) is an American comic book and television writer, known for his work on the animated TV series '' Garfield and Friends'' and on the comic book '' Groo the Wanderer''. He is also known for his columns and ...

with anecdotes about Garrison's technique to produce The Dean Martin Show
Further Dean Martin Show and Garrison anecdotes by Evanier
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garrison, Greg 1924 births 2005 deaths American television directors American television producers Deaths from pneumonia in California