Harry Stephen Ackerman (November 17, 1912 – February 3, 1991) was an American television producer, credited with creating or co-creating twenty-one series, seven of which were at one time being broadcast simultaneously. Some of the

sitcoms A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent setting, such as a home ...

in which he was involved in production during the 1950s and 1960s are also among the most popular American shows in the early history of television, such as ''

Father Knows Best ''Father Knows Best'' is an American sitcom starring Robert Young (actor), Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray (actor), Billy Gray and Lauren Chapin. The series, which began on radio in 1949, aired as a television show for six ...

'', '' Dennis the Menace'', '' Leave It to Beaver'', '' The Farmer's Daughter'', '' Hazel'', '' Bewitched'', ''

The Flying Nun ''The Flying Nun'' is an American fantasy television, fantasy sitcom television series about a community of nuns, which included one who could fly when the wind caught her cornette. It was produced by Screen Gems for American Broadcasting Comp ...

'', and '' Gidget''. Ackerman was known in the entertainment industry as the “dean of television comedy”, although he was also instrumental in developing many dramatic classics and documentaries, such as '' The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial'', '' The Day Lincoln Was Shot'', and '' The 20th Century''.

Early life and education

Harry Ackerman was born in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

and attended

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

as a theater arts major.

Career

Ackerman began his career as a writer, but soon became a radio performer, appearing as the comic poet Wilbur W. Willoughby Jr. In 1938, he went to work as an advertising executive at Young & Rubicam. In 1946, he became vice president of program operations. Ackerman began his career in television at CBS, where he started as an executive producer in New York for the network. Later he became vice president in charge of CBS programs in Hollywood, California. While at CBS he helped create, develop, oversee, and/or approve the casting of ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...

I Love Lucy ''I Love Lucy'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes spanning six seasons. The series starred Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz, along with Vivian ...

, The Jack Benny Show,

Burns and Allen Burns and Allen were an American comedy duo consisting of George Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen. They worked together as a successful comedy team that entertained vaudeville, film, radio, and television audiences for over forty years. The ...

Amos 'n' Andy ''Amos 'n' Andy'' was an American radio sitcom about black characters, initially set in Chicago then later in the Harlem section of New York City. While the show had a brief life on 1950s television with black actors, the 1928 to 1960 radio sho ...

Our Miss Brooks ''Our Miss Brooks'' is an American sitcom starring Eve Arden as a sardonic high-school English teacher. It began as a Old Time Radio, radio show broadcast on CBS from 1948 to 1957. When the show was adapted to television (1952–56), it became ...

'', and many other shows. Ackerman was CBS-TV west coast program vice president from 1948 to 1958. He began his own production company, Harry Ackerman Productions, where he immediately signed an exclusive deal with Paramount TV to create TV series, specials and feature films on a co-production basis, in 1973. He also went to work on network development for

Hanna-Barbera Productions Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

. He then joined

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American film production company owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. ''Screen Gems'' has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the de ...

, which later became Columbia Pictures Television, where he worked for 15 years, from 1958 until 1973. He worked on many TV shows while there, including, ''

'', '' Bachelor Father'' (for Universal), '' Leave It to Beaver'' (for Universal), '' Dennis the Menace'', '' The Donna Reed Show'', '' Hazel'', '' Grindl'', '' Gidget'', '' Bewitched'', ''

I Dream of Jeannie ''I Dream of Jeannie'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy sitcom television series created by Sidney Sheldon and starring Barbara Eden as a beautiful but guileless 2,000-year-old Jinn, genie and Larry Hagman as an astronaut with whom s ...

'', ''

The Monkees The Monkees were an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s. The band consisted of Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones (musician), Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork. Spurred by the success of ''The Monkees (TV series), Th ...

'', and ''

The Partridge Family ''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom created by Bernard Slade, which was broadcast in the United States from September 1970 to March 1974 on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. After the final first-run telecast on ABC in March ...

''. In the late 1940s, before coming to Hollywood, he was involved in the beginnings of the ''

Suspense Suspense is a state of anxiety or excitement caused by mysteriousness, uncertainty, doubt, or undecidedness. In a narrative work, suspense is the audience's excited anticipation about the plot or conflict (which may be heightened by a viol ...

'' and '' Westinghouse Studio One'' dramatic radio anthologies.

Honors

Ackerman won two

Emmy Awards 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 ...

for his work and was the first producer ever honored by the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters at that organization's 1974 luncheon. He was also the national president of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for two terms; and in recognition of his many contributions to the entertainment industry during his career, a star dedicated to him was installed in 1985 on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

at 6661 Hollywood Boulevard.

Personal life and legacy

Ackerman was married twice. His second marriage, to actress

Elinor Donahue Elinor Donahue (born Mary Eleanor Donahue; April 19, 1937) is an American retired actress known for playing the role of Betty Anderson, the eldest child of Jim and Margaret Anderson, on the 1950s American sitcom ''Father Knows Best''. Early li ...

, who was 25 years younger, was in 1962 at the Court of Liberty. He was the adoptive father of her son from her first marriage (to Richard Smith), and he and Donahue had three sons together. In 1991, Ackerman died of " pulmonary failure" at age 78 at St. Joseph Medical Center in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

. He is buried in the Garden of Heritage at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills.Resting Places: The Burial Places of 14,000 Famous Persons, by Scott Wilson Three years later, as a memorial to her husband and to serve as an important resource for research on the history of American television, Elinor Donahue donated the Harry Ackerman Collection of personal papers to the Rauner Library at

.“Harry Ackerman papers, 1928-1990”
Rauner Library, Dartmouth College,

Hanover, New Hampshire Hanover is a New England town, town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university ...

. Retrieved November 24, 2018. Ackerman was an alumnus of Dartmouth, class of 1935.

References

External links

*
The Papers of Harry Ackerman
at Dartmouth College Library * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ackerman, Harry 1912 births 1991 deaths American television producers Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) Dartmouth College alumni missing graduation year 20th-century American businesspeople Bewitched Phi Delta Theta members