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Norman Abbott
Director, Actor, Producer, Additional Credits
Born July 11, 1922Died July 9, 2016 (93 years)
Norman Abbott (July 11, 1922 – July 9, 2016) was an American vaudevillian, actor, producer and television director.
Abbott was born in New York City, where his uncle, comedian Bud Abbott, and his mother raised him. His early experience in entertainment was as a vaudeville performer, including summers working the 'borscht circuit" in resorts in the Catskill Mountains of New York.
In the early 1940s, he and Pat Costello (brother of Lou Costello) worked as stand-ins for the better-known act during filming of Who Done It? (1942).[3]
During World War II, Abbott served as a member of the original United States Navy SEALs team.
After the war, Abbott became a dialog director on the Abbott and Costello films and was mentored by the team's director, Charles T. Barton. Abbott later directed episodes of The Jack Benny Program, Leave It to Beaver, Get Smart, The Munsters, Welcome Back, Kotter, Dennis the Menace, and Sanford and Son.
Abbott's obituary in The Hollywood Reporter described him as "the brainchild behind the Broadway sensation Sugar Babies, the comeback vehicle for Mickey Rooney in the late 1970s". He conceived the idea of a Broadway musical based on burlesque after inheriting his uncle's "treasure trove of burlesque material, including written gags, props, music and posters".[4] Despite his having originated the concept, Abbott was fired as director of the show after two weeks of rehearsing.
Abbott was born in New York City, where his uncle, comedian Bud Abbott, and his mother raised him. His early experience in entertainment was as a vaudeville performer, including summers working the 'borscht circuit" in resorts in the Catskill Mountains of New York.
In the early 1940s, he and Pat Costello (brother of Lou Costello) worked as stand-ins for the better-known act during filming of Who Done It? (1942).[3]
During World War II, Abbott served as a member of the original United States Navy SEALs team.
After the war, Abbott became a dialog director on the Abbott and Costello films and was mentored by the team's director, Charles T. Barton. Abbott later directed episodes of The Jack Benny Program, Leave It to Beaver, Get Smart, The Munsters, Welcome Back, Kotter, Dennis the Menace, and Sanford and Son.
Abbott's obituary in The Hollywood Reporter described him as "the brainchild behind the Broadway sensation Sugar Babies, the comeback vehicle for Mickey Rooney in the late 1970s". He conceived the idea of a Broadway musical based on burlesque after inheriting his uncle's "treasure trove of burlesque material, including written gags, props, music and posters".[4] Despite his having originated the concept, Abbott was fired as director of the show after two weeks of rehearsing.
Norman Abbott Filmography
| 1988 | The Munsters Today (TV Series) |
| 1985 | Rocky Road (TV Series) |
| 1984 | Charles in Charge (TV Series) |
| 1983 | The New Leave It to Beaver (TV Series) |
| 1979 | California Fever (TV Series) |
| 1979 | Working Stiffs (TV Series) |
| 1979 | The Bad News Bears (TV Series) |
| 1979 | Angie (TV Series) |
| 1977 | |
| 1977 | Operation Petticoat (TV Series) |
| 1977 | Fish (TV Series) |
| 1976 | Alice (TV Series) |
| 1975 | When Things Were Rotten (TV Series) |
| 1975 | Welcome Back, Kotter (TV Series) |
| 1975 | The Ghost Busters (TV Series) |
| 1974 | That's My Mama (TV Series) |
| 1972 | Sanford and Son (TV Series) |
| 1970 | Nanny and the Professor (TV Series) |
| 1969 | Love, American Style (TV Series) |
| 1969 | The Brady Bunch (TV Series) |
| 1969 | Room 222 (TV Series) |
| 1968 | Blondie (1968) (TV Series) |
| 1968 | Adam-12 (TV Series) |
| 1966 | |
| 1965 | Get Smart (TV Series) |
| 1965 | Where The Action Is (TV Series) |
| 1964 | Karen (1964) (TV Series) |
| 1964 | The Munsters (TV Series) |
| 1962 | McHale's Navy (TV Series) |
| 1962 | I'm Dickens... He's Fenster (TV Series) |
| 1962 | McKeever and the Colonel (TV Series) |
| 1959 | Take a Good Look (TV Series) |
| 1959 | Dennis the Menace (TV Series) |
| 1958 | |
| 1957 | The Thin Man (TV Series) |
| 1957 | Bachelor Father (TV Series) |
| 1957 | Leave It to Beaver (TV Series) |
| 1954 | The George Gobel Show (TV Series) |
| 1950 | The Jack Benny Program (TV Series) |
| 1948 | Studio One (TV Series) |
| 1953 | Walking My Baby Back Home · as Doc |
| 1950 | Katie Did It · as Chick |
| 1943 | Keep 'Em Slugging · as Ape |
| 1942 | Whistling in Dixie · as Attendant |
| 1942 | Who Done It? · as 'murder At Midnight' Organist |
| 1942 | The Affairs of Martha · as Newsboy (uncredited) |
| 1942 | Grand Central Murder · as Whistling Messenger (uncredited) |
| 1942 | Rio Rita · as Hotel Laundry Boy (uncredited) |
| 1995 | Empire of the Censors · as Self |
| 1987 | Biography (TV Series) · as Self - 'munsters' Director |
| 1950 | The Colgate Comedy Hour (TV Series) · as Self |
| 1966 | |
| 1950 | The Jack Benny Program (TV Series) |
| 1966 | The Last of the Secret Agents? · as Story |