Everett Greenbaum | |
---|---|
Born |
Buffalo, New York, U.S. |
December 20, 1919
Died | July 11, 1999 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
(aged 79)
Occupation | TV and film screenwriter and actor |
Years active | 1953-1999 |
Spouse(s) | Deane Ward, (1957-1999, his death) |
Children | 1 daughter, Billie Shane |
Everett Greenbaum (December 20, 1919 – July 11, 1999) was an American television and film writer and actor who contributed to such shows as The Andy Griffith Show (24 Episodes), Mash (35 Episodes), Love American Style, The Real McCoys (32 Episodes), Sanford and Son, and The George Gobel Show. Greenbaum was a co-creator with Jim Fritzell of Mister Peepers an important early television show which starred Wally Cox. He wrote the Hollywood feature film Good Neighbor Sam, as well as a series of films starring Don Knotts that included The Shakiest Gun in the West, The Reluctant Astronaut, and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.
Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, Greenbaum studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Sorbonne in Paris. Following service as a Navy pilot during World War II, Greenbaum moved to New York City to try his luck as a writer. He began work in radio as writer, producer and star of "Greenbaum's Gallery". He also wrote continuity for a radio series starring the Canadian folk singer Oscar Brand.
In the mid 1950s, Greenbaum teamed with Jim Fritzell and collaborated on scripts for the TV series Mister Peepers (1952), a stylish sitcom starring Wally Cox as a timid small-town science teacher; it also gave Tony Randall his first important role. When the series was cancelled, NBC-TV received over 10,000 letters of protest. A month later Mr. Peepers returned, running for three years and winning a Peabody Award.