Harold Eugene Roach Jr. (June 15, 1918 – March 29, 1972) was an American film and television producer.
Biography
Roach Jr. was 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 ...
, the son of comedy producer
Hal Roach
Harry Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr.Randy Skretvedt, Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director, a ...
and actress
Marguerite Nichols. Roach Jr. co-directed ''
One Million B.C.
''One Million B.C.'' is a 1940 American fantasy film produced by Hal Roach Studios and released by United Artists. It is also known by the titles ''Cave Man'', ''Man and His Mate'' and ''Tumak''.
The film stars Victor Mature as protagonist Tu ...
'' with his father.
Roach was president of the
Hal Roach Studios
Hal Roach Studios was an American motion picture and television production studio. Known as ''The Laugh Factory to the World'', it was founded by producer Hal Roach and business partners Dan Linthicum and I.H. Nance as the Rolin Film Company on Ju ...
for some time, but was ousted in 1959 when he and
Alexander Guterma, who attempted to create an empire of the studio,
Mutual Broadcasting System
The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the golden age of U.S. rad ...
, and others, were both indicted on federal securities violations.
Roach married Alva Brewer, with whom he had two children.
Death
Roach produced individual episodes of many early television series but no well-known films aside from those directly involving his father. He died on March 29, 1972, at the age of 53 after falling ill with pneumonia.
His father outlived him by twenty years, dying in 1992 at age 100. Roach is buried in
Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles
Calvary Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles runs in the community of East Los Angeles. It is also called "New Calvary Cemetery" because it succeeded the original Calvary Cemetery (on north Broadway), over whi ...
.
References
External links
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1918 births
1972 deaths
American television producers
Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Los Angeles)
Deaths from pneumonia in California
20th-century American businesspeople
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