Roland Kibbee (15 February 1914 in

Monongahela, Pennsylvania Monongahela, referred to locally as Mon City, is a third class city in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is about south of Pittsburgh proper. The population was ...

– 5 August 1984 in

Encino, California Encino ( Spanish for "oak") is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. History In 1769, the Spanish Portolá expedition, first Europeans to see inland areas of California, traveled north through Sepulved ...

) was an award-winning American screenwriter and producer. He was a frequent collaborator and friend of actor-producer

Burt Lancaster Burton Stephen Lancaster (November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994) was an American actor and producer. Initially known for playing tough guys with a tender heart, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-yea ...

Career

Kibbee began his career writing for radio in 1931, working with

Jack Lescoulie Jack Lescoulie (November 17, 1912 – July 22, 1987) was a radio and television announcer and host, notably on NBC's ''Today'' during the 1950s and 1960s; a newspaper source lists his date of birth as May 17, 1912. Lescoulie was also known for h ...

, and later collaborated with Nat Hiken, writing for the series ''

The Grouch Club ''The Grouch Club'' is a talk show broadcast on CBS Radio West Coast on Mondays (later Tuesdays) between October 17, 1938 and April 25, 1939, followed on Sundays at 6:30 PM on NBC Red Network April 16, 1939 through January 21, 1940. Jack Lescoulie ...

'', which starred Lescoulie. After this, Kibbee worked on

Fred Allen John Florence Sullivan (May 31, 1894 – March 17, 1956), known professionally as Fred Allen, was an American comedian. His absurdist, topically pointed radio program '' The Fred Allen Show'' (1932–1949) made him one of the most popular and fo ...

's staff and wrote for Groucho Marx, before serving in the U.S. Air Force during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Following his military service, he collaborated with Joseph Fields to write the screenplay for the

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AF ...

1946 film ''

A Night in Casablanca ''A Night in Casablanca'' is a 1946 film starring the Marx Brothers: ( Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx and Chico Marx). The picture was directed by Archie Mayo, and written by Joseph Fields and Roland Kibbee. ...

''. He frequently worked on films for

, including '' The Crimson Pirate'' (1952), ''

Vera Cruz Veracruz is a state in Mexico. Veracruz or Vera Cruz (literally "True Cross") may also refer to: People * María González Veracruz (born 1979), Spanish politician * Philip Vera Cruz (1904–1994), Filipino American labor leader * Tomé Vera Cruz ...

'' (1954), '' The Devil's Disciple'' (1959), and '' Valdez Is Coming'' (1971). For a time they teamed to form "

Norlan Productions Hecht-Hill-Lancaster was a production company formed by the actor Burt Lancaster in association with his agent, Harold Hecht, and James Hill. In 1948 Lancaster and Hecht formed Norma Productions (named after his wife), which later became Hecht-La ...

". Together they wrote, produced and directed '' The Midnight Man'' (1974). Some of his best-known films were ''A Night in Casablanca'' (1946), '' The Crimson Pirate'' (1952), '' The Appaloosa'' (1966) and '' Valdez Is Coming'' (1971). Prominent TV producer and writer

Norman Lear Norman Milton Lear (born July 27, 1922) is an American producer and screenwriter, who has produced, written, created, or developed over 100 shows. Lear is known for many popular 1970s sitcoms, including the multi-award winning ''All in the Famil ...

also acknowledged that while he would sometimes do the opening monologues for

The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show ''The Ford Show'' (also known as ''The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford'' and ''The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show'') is an American variety program, starring singer and folk humorist Tennessee Ernie Ford, which aired on NBC on Thursday ev ...

, Kibbee was in fact the show's main writer. In a 2015 interview with Variety, Lear credited both Kibbee and Hiken as his two mentors. He also wrote for TV shows, among them '' The Virginian'', '' It Takes a Thief'' (which he created) and ''

Columbo ''Columbo'' () is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originally aired on NBC f ...

''. Kibbee won Emmy awards for his work on the short-lived 1961 series ''

The Bob Newhart Show ''The Bob Newhart Show'' is an American sitcom television series produced by MTM Enterprises that aired on CBS from September 16, 1972, to April 1, 1978, with a total of 142 half-hour episodes over six seasons. Comedian Bob Newhart portrays a ...

'', ''Columbo'' and ''

Barney Miller ''Barney Miller'' is an American sitcom television series set in a New York City Police Department police station on East 6th St in Greenwich Village. The series was broadcast on ABC Network from January 23, 1975, to May 20, 1982. It was created ...

''.

HUAC Informer

In the early '50s, Kibbee was named as a former member of the Communist party by screenwriter Martin Berkeley along with 155 others. Kibbee had become a member in 1937, "by way of the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League and out three years later by way of the Nazi-Soviet Pact" He was also named by his colleague and

Hecht-Lancaster Hecht-Hill-Lancaster was a production company formed by the actor Burt Lancaster in association with his agent, Harold Hecht, and James Hill. In 1948 Lancaster and Hecht formed Norma Productions (named after his wife), which later became Hecht-La ...

executive Harold Hecht. Kibbee was then required to testify before the committee which he did, believing to have mostly named those who had named him. Kibbee broke off with Hecht but continued to work for the company on a freelance basis. He retained his friendship with Lancaster, allegedly warning to distance himself from Hecht. Lancaster had been a vocal critic of the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

. Kibbee is one of the interview subjects in ''Naming Names'', the definitive history of the Hollywood Blacklist by journalist Victor Navasky. The author discovered that like many who had testified, Kibbee was mistaken and had in fact given names that were not previously known to the committee.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kibbee, Roland 1914 births 1984 deaths People from Monongahela, Pennsylvania American male screenwriters Television producers from Pennsylvania American television writers Emmy Award winners American male television writers 20th-century American businesspeople Screenwriters from Pennsylvania 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters