John Vlahos (December 26, 1917 – April 8, 2004) was an American screenwriter. Along with his contemporaries,

Horton Foote Albert Horton Foote Jr. (March 14, 1916March 4, 2009) was an American playwright and screenwriter. He received Academy Awards for ''To Kill a Mockingbird'', which was adapted from the 1960 novel of the same name by Harper Lee, and the film, '' ...

Reginald Rose Reginald Rose (December 10, 1920 – April 19, 2002) was an American screenwriter. He wrote about controversial social and political issues. His realistic approach was particularly influential in the anthology programs of the 1950s. Rose w ...

, and

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 ...

, he was one of the leading screenwriters of the 1950s and 1960s, writing for television series, including ''

The Philco Television Playhouse ''The Philco Television Playhouse'' is an American television anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the series was sponsored by Philco. It was one of the most respected dramatic shows of the ...

'', ''Studio One'', ''

Robert Montgomery Presents ''Robert Montgomery Presents'' is an American drama (film and television), drama television series which was produced by NBC from January 30, 1950, until June 24, 1957. The Live television, live show had several sponsors during its eight-year run ...

'', ''

Goodyear Television Playhouse ''Goodyear Television Playhouse'' is an American anthology series that was telecast live on NBC from 1951 to 1957 during the first Golden Age of Television. Goodyear alternated sponsorship with Philco, and ''The Philco Television Playhouse'' ...

'', ''

The United States Steel Hour ''The United States Steel Hour'' is an anthology series which brought hour-long dramas to television from 1953 to 1963. The television series and the radio program that preceded it were both sponsored by the United States Steel Corporation (U.S. ...

'', ''

Climax! ''Climax!'' (later known as ''Climax Mystery Theater'') is an American television anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was hosted by William Lundigan and later co-hosted by Mary Costa. It was one of the few CBS pro ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

The Alcoa Hour ''The Alcoa Hour'' is an American anthology television series sponsored by the Alcoa Corporation that aired live on NBC from October 16, 1955, to September 22, 1957. Overview ''The Alcoa Hour'' is a one-hour live anthology series that primar ...

'',

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), known professionally as Boris Karloff () and occasionally billed as Karloff the Uncanny, was a British actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstei ...

's ''

Thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

'', ''

Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) is one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The high ...

'', '' The Defenders'', '' The Nurses'', '' Doctor Kildare'', and '' Marcus Welby, M.D.''. His credits include seventeen film screenplays, seventy radio scripts, fifty-two network television live and film dramas, and more than two hundred episodes for various daytime shows.

Early life and education

Born in

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in Clark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in southwestern Ohio along the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, about west of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus and northeast of ...

, to

Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...

parents, Vlahos worked in the family restaurant as a youth. He attended

Wittenberg University Wittenberg University (officially Wittenberg College) is a private liberal arts college in Springfield, Ohio. It has 1,326 full-time students drawn from 33 states and 9 foreign countries. Wittenberg University is associated with the Evangelical ...

and

Carnegie Institute of Technology Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

(class of 1939), where he majored in drama.

Career

In 1941, he moved to the West Coast and wrote for a series of ''

Range Busters ''The Range Busters'' was a 1940–1943 American Western film series of 24 films. They were about the adventures of a trio of cowboys, many filmed at the Corriganville Movie Ranch, produced by George W. Weeks and distributed by Monogram Pictur ...

'' westerns for

Monogram Pictures Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios i ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

in the

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. After World War II, he spent seven years with the

Armed Forces Radio Service The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the United States Armed Forces provides to soldiers stationed or assigned overseas, and is headquartered at Fort Meade in Maryland. AFN comprises two sub ...

. He turned his hand to television in 1952, when

Hal Peary Harold "Hal" Peary (born Harrold José Pereira de Faria; July 25, 1908 – March 30, 1985) was an American actor, comedian and singer in radio, films, television, and animation. His most memorable role is as Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, whi ...

, best known for his role as

the Great Gildersleeve ''The Great Gildersleeve'' was a radio situation comedy broadcast in the United States from August 31, 1941 to 1958. Initially written by Leonard Lewis Levinson, it was one of broadcast history's earliest spin-off programs. The series was buil ...

, commissioned him to write episodes of a planned series called ''Call Me Papa; or, Pigeon Point''. After several years in Hollywood, Vlahos moved in 1958 to

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Located in the Gold Coast (Connecticut), Gold Coast along the Long Island Sound, it is northeast of New York City and is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connec ...

, where he lived the rest of his life.Dick Kleiner, "TV Scripter John Vlahos Moves East," ''Times Record'' (Troy), March 7, 1958, p. 10. Vlahos excelled especially in plays broadcast live. Among Vlahos’s early successes was ''A Business Proposition'' (1955), "a tender tale or two middle-aged people who attempt to establish a business despite tremendous odds", and ''A Bend in the Road'' (1957), which he described as being "about a Protestant minister's search for his usefulness. He's an old man in a nation of youth and youth's success. What can he contribute. He goes through a spiritual evaluation of himself, to the world, to himself, and to his family." Other notable early works include ''Tongues of Angels'' (1958), a drama about a farmer who feigns muteness to hide his severe stutter, and ''Beaver Patrol'' (1958), a comedy about a retired New York businessman who assumes leadership of a

Cub Scout Cubs or Wolf Cubs are programs associated with some Scout organizations, for young children, usually between 8 and 12, who are too young to be Scouts and make the Scout Promise. A participant in the program is called a Cub and a group of Cubs ...

pack. His

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

drama, ''The Brandenberg Gate'', set in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, was produced for television three times in eight years—first for ''Motorola TV Hour'' with

Jack Palance Walter Jack Palance ( ; born Volodymyr Palahniuk, , ''Volodymyr Ivanovych Palahniuk''; February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an American screen and stage actor, known to film audiences for playing tough guys and villains. He was nominat ...

and Maria Riva (1953), then with ''Climax!'' (under the title ''The Largest City in Captivity'') with

Franchot Tone Stanislaus Pascal Franchot Tone (February 27, 1905 – September 18, 1968) was an American actor, producer, and director of stage, film and television. He was a leading man in the 1930s and early 1940s, and at the height of his career was known ...

and

Viveca Lindfors Elsa Viveca Torstensdotter Lindfors (December 29, 1920 – October 25, 1995) was a Swedish-American stage, film, and television actress. She won an Emmy Award and a Silver Bear for Best Actress. Biography Lindfors was born in Uppsala, Swed ...

(1957), and finally for the ''United States Steel Hour'' with

Richard Kiley Richard Paul Kiley (March 31, 1922 – March 5, 1999) was an American stage, film, and television actor and singer. He is best-known for his distinguished theatrical career in which he twice won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Kile ...

and

Dina Merrill Dina Merrill (born Nedenia Marjorie Hutton; December 29, 1923 – May 22, 2017) was an American actress. She had more than a hundred film and television credits from the late 1950s until 2000s. She married three times. Early life Merrill was ...

(1961). Among other notable works were his script for the television film ''Silent Night, Lonely Night'' (1969), starring

Lloyd Bridges Lloyd Vernet Bridges Jr. (January 15, 1913 – March 10, 1998) was an American film, stage and television actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. He was the father of four children, includi ...

and

Shirley Jones Shirley Mae Jones (born March 31, 1934) is an American actress and singer. In her six decades in show business, she has starred as wholesome characters in a number of musical films, such as ''Oklahoma! (film), Oklahoma!'' (1955), ''Carousel (fi ...

, and ''

Act of Reprisal ''Act of Reprisal'' is an American drama film directed by Erricos Andreou and Robert Tronson and starring Ina Balin, Jeremy Brett and Giannis Voglis. The film was produced in 1964, but was not released in theaters until 1991. The film depicts a r ...

'' (1964), a feature film on the

Cyprus dispute The Cyprus problem, also known as the Cyprus conflict, Cyprus issue, Cyprus dispute, or Cyprus question, is an ongoing dispute between the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot community in the north of the island of Cyprus, where troops of t ...

that starred a young

Jeremy Brett Peter Jeremy William Huggins (3 November 1933 – 12 September 1995), known professionally as Jeremy Brett, was an English actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes from 1984 to 1994 in 41 episodes of a Sherlock Holmes (1984 TV ...

. A 1991 review of a revival of the film noted "a certain lustiness and clarity in its storytelling". Vlahos’s play ''The Golden Age of Pericles Pappas'', for which he was awarded a fellowship from the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

, was produced at the Tulsa Little Theater in 1959. His biopic on labor leader

Samuel Gompers Samuel Gompers (; January 27, 1850December 11, 1924) was a British-born American cigar maker, labor union leader and a key figure in American labor history. Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and served as the organization's ...

rooted his activism in the study of the

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

. He also wrote a promotional film, ''The Big Decision'', for Wittenberg University, which awarded Vlahos an honorary doctorate in 1958, and he developed poetic liturgies performed at the Unitarian Church in Westport. Vlahos worked alongside the leading writers and producers of the early years of television. His agent, Lucy Kroll, also represented

. His co-writers for the ''United States Steel Hour'', included Foote,

Arnold Schulman Arnold Schulman (August 11, 1925 – February 4, 2023) was an American playwright, screenwriter, producer, songwriter and novelist. He was a stage actor long associated with the American Theatre Wing and the Actors Studio. Biography Born to a ...

Arthur Hailey Arthur Frederick Hailey, AE (5 April 1920 – 24 November 2004) was a British/Canadian novelist whose plot-driven storylines were set against the backdrops of various industries. His books, which include such best sellers as ''Hotel'' (1965), ...

Tad Mosel Tad Mosel (May 1, 1922 – August 24, 2008) was an American playwright and one of the leading dramatists of hour-long teleplay genre for live television during the 1950s. He received the 1961 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play '' All the Way H ...

, and

Ira Levin Ira Marvin Levin (August 27, 1929 – November 12, 2007) was an American novelist, playwright, and songwriter. His works include the novels '' A Kiss Before Dying'' (1953), '' Rosemary's Baby'' (1967), '' The Stepford Wives'' (1972), '' This Perf ...

. He wrote episodes for the Emmy Award–winning courtroom series ''The Defenders'', created by

. Recalling his work with Rose, Vlahos noted, "In my case I get so involved with the people, I have practically no story. He's always sending me back to put the story in."

Honors

Among the honors he received are the

Sylvania Award The Sylvania Awards were given by the television manufacturer Sylvania Electric Products for various categories of television performance, broadcasting, scripts, music and other aspects of production between 1951 and 1959. In their day they rivaled ...

in 1958 (for ''Beaver Patrol'', a comedy for the U.S. Steel Hour) and an Emmy Award in 1962 (for "Killer Instinct", an episode of ''The Defenders''). He also received an Ohio State Radio-TV Award for Best Documentary, a Freedom Foundation Award for Best Historic Family Series, an Institution for Education Award for Distinguished Radio Writing, and the 1959

Award for playwriting.

Personal life

John Vlahos lived in Westport for fifty years with his wife Olivia Vlahos, a professor and bestselling writer. They met in 1939 at the Old Wharf Theatre, in

Provincetown, Massachusetts Provincetown () is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States census, Provi ...

, home of many independently produced plays and often continued its legacy of experiment in art. It was for a time the home base for the Community Theatre division of the

Federal Theatre Project The Federal Theatre Project (FTP; 1935–1939) was a theatre program established during the Great Depression as part of the New Deal to fund live artistic performances and entertainment programs in the United States. It was one of five Federal ...

(1936–39), used as a training center to send directors, actors, teachers and designers out to the five boroughs of New York City to create theatre projects. Olivia Vlahos, as a young actress toured Texas with the Interstate Players and went onto study at the University of Texas, Houston where she wrote and performed in shows for the

United Service Organizations The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

and, under the tutelage of American anthropologist Gilbert McAllister, discovered her love of

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

. They had three children, Dr. Michael Vlahos, Melissa Vlahos and Stephanie Vlahos. An archive of John Vlahos's original teleplays and film scripts was sold by the

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

bookseller Bookselling is the commercial trading of books, which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, book people, bookmen, or bookwomen. History The foundi ...

, Carpe Librum.

Death

''"Thank you for making articulate our lives, thank you for making articulate our problems, thank you for revealing all to see our feelings."'' John Vlahos died on April 8, 2004, at home in Westport at the age of 87.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vlahos, John 1917 births 2004 deaths 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century people from California 20th-century people from Connecticut 20th-century people from Ohio 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century people from California 21st-century people from Connecticut 21st-century people from Ohio American comedy writers American Forces Network American male dramatists and playwrights American male television writers American radio writers Carnegie Mellon University alumni Emmy Award winners Military personnel from California Military personnel from Connecticut Military personnel from Ohio Screenwriters from Connecticut Screenwriters from Los Angeles Screenwriters from Ohio United States Navy personnel of World War II Wittenberg University alumni Writers from Springfield, Ohio Writers from Westport, Connecticut