Rodney Amateau (December 20, 1923 – June 29, 2003) was an American film and television screenwriter, director, and producer.

Career

Among the programs that he directed were '' The Dennis Day Show'', ''

The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show ''The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show'', sometimes called ''The Burns and Allen Show'', is a half-hour television sitcom broadcast from 1950 to 1958 on CBS. It starred George Burns and Gracie Allen, one of the most enduring acts in entertainm ...

'', ''

The Bob Cummings Show ''The Bob Cummings Show'' (also known in reruns as ''Love That Bob'') is an American sitcom starring Bob Cummings, which was broadcast from January 2, 1955, to September 15, 1959. The program began with a half-season run on NBC, then ran for ...

'', '' The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis'', ''

Mister Ed ''Mister Ed'' is an American television sitcom produced by Filmways that aired in syndication from January 5 to July 2, 1961, and then on CBS from October 1, 1961, to February 6, 1966. The show's title character is a talking horse which orig ...

'', ''

Gilligan's Island ''Gilligan's Island'' is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show's ensemble cast features Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson, and Dawn Wells. It aired for th ...

'' and '' The New Phil Silvers Show''. He produced '' My Mother the Car'' and '' Supertrain'', and wrote the story for the 1988 film ''

Sunset Sunset (or sundown) is the disappearance of the Sun at the end of the Sun path, below the horizon of the Earth (or any other astronomical object in the Solar System) due to its Earth's rotation, rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth, it ...

''. Amateau also directed a few episodes of ''

The Dukes of Hazzard ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' is an American action comedy television series created by Gy Waldron that aired on CBS from January 26, 1979, to February 8, 1985, with a total of seven seasons consisting of List of The Dukes of Hazzard episodes, 147 ...

'', and appeared in a handful of episodes as an actor as well. In 1987, he directed, produced and co-wrote '' The Garbage Pail Kids Movie'', which is considered to be one of the worst films ever made.

Personal life

From 1945 to 1949, he was married to actress

Coleen Gray Coleen Gray (born Doris Jensen; October 23, 1922 – August 3, 2015) was an American actress. She was best known for her roles in the films '' Nightmare Alley'' (1947), '' Red River'' (1948), and Stanley Kubrick's '' The Killing'' (1956). ...

, who sued him for

child support Child support (or child maintenance) is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child (state or parent, caregiver, guardian) following the end of a marriage or other similar relationship. Child maintenance is ...

in 1955. Amateau was then married to actress and screenwriter Joane Andre from 1950 to 1959. From 1959 to 1962, he was married to Sandra Burns, daughter of

George Burns George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film, and television. His arched eyeb ...

and

Gracie Allen Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen (July 26, 1895 – August 27, 1964) was an American vaudevillian, singer, actress, and comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns, her straight man, ap ...

. Amateau had four children, two sons and two daughters.

Retirement and death

Amateau retired from directing in 1989. He died from a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its ventricles, or into both. An ICH is a type of bleeding within the skull and one kind of stro ...

in 2003 in Los Angeles, aged 79.

Filmography

Film

TV

References

External links

* 1923 births 2003 deaths American male screenwriters Film producers from New York (state) American television directors Television producers from New York City Film directors from New York City American male television writers American television writers Screenwriters from New York (state) 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters {{US-film-director-1920s-stub