Romeo Earl Muller, Jr. (August 7, 1928 – December 30, 1992) was an American

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

most remembered for his

screenplay A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of w ...

s for the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials including ''

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer created by Robert L. May. Rudolph is usually depicted as the ninth and youngest of Santa Claus's reindeer, using his luminous red nose to lead the reindeer team and guide Santa's sleigh on C ...

'', ''

The Little Drummer Boy "The Little Drummer Boy" (originally known as "Carol of the Drum") is a popular Christmas song written by American composer Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. First recorded in 1951 by the Austrian Trapp Family, the song was further popularized ...

'', ''

Frosty the Snowman "Frosty the Snowman" is a song written by Walter "Jack" Rollins and Steve Nelson, and first recorded by Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys in 1950 and later recorded by Jimmy Durante in that year. It was written after the success of Autry's ...

'', and '' Santa Claus Is Coming to Town''.

Early years

Muller was born in the

Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, the son of Mildred (Kuhlmann) and Romeo Earl Muller. He was raised on Long Island. His talents in the arts were evident very early on. At age 11, he became a

puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object called a puppet to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the ...

at his grade school and eventually he began writing his own plays. His career in

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

began when he joined an acting troupe called "Theater Go Round" in

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the most populous city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeastern Virginia. It is the sixth-most populous city in the ...

with producer/friend Lesley Savage. At this time Romeo wrote plays such as ''Angel With The Big, Big Ears'' and ''The Great Getaway'', which eventually became the

Rankin-Bass Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment (founded and formerly known as Videocraft International, Ltd. and Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc.) was an American production company located in New York City. It was known for its seasonal television specials, ...

off Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

play ''A Month Of Sundays''. Since Muller was a big man at 6'2", 300 pounds (1.88 m, 136 kg), he decided to stay away from acting and turn his attention towards writing.

Career

After writing material for comedian

Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky; February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success as a violinist on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century with ...

, Muller was discovered by

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

founder

William S. Paley William Samuel Paley (September 28, 1901 – October 26, 1990) was an American businessman, primarily involved in the media, and best known as the chief executive who built the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) from a small radio network into o ...

and selected to be a staff writer for the prestigious '' Studio One'' and ''Philco Theatre''. He wrote one of the most popular episodes for the ''Studio One'' series entitled "Love Me To Pieces, Baby". In 1963, Muller met with producer/directors Arthur Rankin, Jr. and

Jules Bass Julius Caesar Bass (; September 16, 1935 – October 25, 2022) was an American director, producer, lyricist, composer and author. Until 1960, he worked at a New York advertising agency, and then co-founded the film production company Videocraft ...

and began a relationship that would last for years. Rankin and Bass asked Romeo to write a screenplay for their first Network television special, entitled ''

Return to Oz ''Return to Oz'' is a 1985 dark fantasy film released by Walt Disney Pictures, co-written and directed by Walter Murch. It stars Nicol Williamson, Jean Marsh, Piper Laurie, and Fairuza Balk as Dorothy Gale in her first screen role. The film is ...

'', which aired on NBC's the '' General Electric Fantasy Hour''. The special was a success and set the stage for the most popular holiday television special of all time ''

''. Muller embellished the short story into an hour-long broadcast and added a variety of characters into the story. He is also known for his screenplays in other such films as ''

Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" is a Christmas music, Christmas song written by John Frederick Coots, J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, and first recorded by Harry Reser and His Orchestra. When it was covered by Eddie Cantor on his radio show ...

'', ''

'', '' Here Comes Peter Cottontail'', and ''

'', among many others. In 1965, several Theatre-Five radio productions featured Muller as writer and/or actor. He was also the voice of the narrator, a talking sun, in the first three

Strawberry Shortcake Strawberry shortcake may refer to: * Strawberry shortcake (dessert), a shortcake served with strawberries * Strawberry Shortcake, a cartoon character and franchise created by American Greetings ** Strawberry Shortcake (TV series), ''Strawberry Sho ...

TV specials from the 1980s, which he also wrote and co-produced. Muller read his favorite and first Christmas story every year on Christmas Eve on New York radio station WGHQ. This story was reworked with a different ending for an animated film in 1992 and aired days before Muller died. In 2002 the book ''Jill Chill & the Baron of Glacier Mountain'' by Ed McCray featured a character named Romeo after Muller. The book is written in the style of the old Christmas specials that Muller had written.

Death

Muller died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in his sleep on Wednesday, 30 December 1992, shortly after receiving a diagnosis of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

.
https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/entertainment/2017/12/07/rudolph-frosty-and-yukon-cornelius-can-call-ulster-county-home/912844001/ Romeo Muller Jr., 64, Writer for Animation Dies]

Work

Plays

* ''Angel With the Big, Big Ears'' * ''A Month of Sundays'' * ''Superman'' * ''The Great Git-Away''

Filmography

; Holiday TV specials * ''

'' (1964) * ''Cricket on the Hearth'' (1967) * '' The Mouse on the Mayflower'' (1968) * ''

'' (1968) * ''

'' (1969) * ''

Santa Claus is Comin' to Town "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" is a Christmas music, Christmas song written by John Frederick Coots, J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, and first recorded by Harry Reser and His Orchestra. When it was covered by Eddie Cantor on his radio show ...

'' (1970) * '' Here Comes Peter Cottontail'' (1971) * '' Rudolph's Shiny New Year'' (1975, 1976) * '' Frosty's Winter Wonderland'' (1976) * '' The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town'' (1977) * '' Nestor, the Long–Eared Christmas Donkey'' (1977) * '' The Stingiest Man in Town'' (1978) * '' The Little Rascals Christmas Special'' (1979) * '' Jack Frost'' (1979) * ''

Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July ''Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July'' (titled on-screen as ''Rudolph and Frosty: Christmas in July'') is a 1979 American–Japanese Christmas/Independence Day film produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, featuring characters from the company' ...

'' (1979) * '' Thanksgiving in the Land of Oz'' (aka ''Dorothy in the Land of Oz'') (1980) * '' Pinocchio's Christmas'' (1980) * '' The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold'' (1981) * '' Peter and the Magic Egg'' (1983) * ''

Father Christmas Father Christmas is the traditional English name for the personification of Christmas. Although now known as a Christmas gift-bringer, and typically considered to be synonymous with Santa Claus, he was originally part of a much older and unrela ...

'' (1991) * ''Noël'' (1992) * ''The Twelve Days of Christmas'' (1993) * '' The Legend of Frosty the Snowman'' (2005) (Posthumous writing credit) ; Other TV specials * ''

'' (1964) * '' The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians'' (1970) * '' The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye: The Emperor's New Clothes'' (1972) * '' Willie Mays and the Say-Hey Kid'' (1972) * ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ...

'' (1977) * '' It's a Brand New World'' (1977) * '' Puff the Magic Dragon'' (1978) * '' Puff the Magic Dragon in the Land of Living Lies'' (1979) * ''

The Return of the King ''The Return of the King'' is the third and final volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', following '' The Fellowship of the Ring'' and '' The Two Towers''. It was published in 1955. The story begins in the kingdom of Gondor, ...

'' (1980) * '' The World of Strawberry Shortcake'' (1980) * '' Strawberry Shortcake in Big Apple City'' (1981) * '' Puff and the Incredible Mr. Nobody'' (1982) * '' Strawberry Shortcake: Pets on Parade'' (1982) * ''

The Flight of Dragons ''The Flight of Dragons'' is a 1982 animated fantasy film produced and directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr. loosely combining the speculative natural history book of the same name (1979) by Peter Dickinson with the novel '' The Drag ...

'' (1982) * ''

The Wind in the Willows ''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and get ...

'' (1987) * '' Peppermint Rose'' (1993) ; TV series * ''The Smokey Bear Show'' (1969–70) * '' The Reluctant Dragon and Mr. Toad Show'' (1970–71) * '' The Tomfoolery Show'' (1970-71) * '' The Jackson 5ive'' (1971–73) * ''The Osmonds'' (1972–74) * ''

The Comic Strip The Comic Strip are a group of British comedians who came to prominence in the 1980s. They are known for their television series ''The Comic Strip Presents...'', which was labelled as a pioneering example of the alternative comedy scene. The c ...

'' (1987) (''The Mini-Monsters'' segments) * ''

ThunderCats ''ThunderCats'' is a media franchise, featuring a fictional group of cat-like humanoid aliens. The characters were created by Tobin Wolf and featured in an animated television series named ''ThunderCats'', running from 1985 to 1989, whic ...

'' ("The Mask of Gorgon") (1987) * '' The Kids from C.A.P.E.R.'' (1976–77) ; Feature films * '' The Daydreamer'' (1966) * '' The Wacky World of Mother Goose'' (1967) * '' Marco'' (1973)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muller, Romeo 1928 births 1992 deaths 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters American male television writers American people of German descent American television writers Animation screenwriters People from Long Island Writers from the Bronx Screenwriters from New York (state)