Jack Laird

Jack Laird
Born	March 8, 1923 Los Angeles, California, United States
Died	December 3, 1991 (aged 68) Los Angeles, California, United States (cancer)
Resting place	Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Occupation	Actor Director writer Producer
Years active	1951 - 1981

Jack Laird (May 8, 1923 – December 3, 1991) was an American television producer, writer, director and actor who received three Emmy nominations for writing and/or producing the TV series Ben Casey, Night Gallery and Kojak.

Laird entered the entertainment industry at a young age. One of his first appearances as a child actor was in an unbilled bit part in the 1934 film The Circus Clown. He continued to appear in unbilled bits into his late twenties, but eventually moved into writing and producing.

One of Laird's favorite actors was Leslie Nielsen with whom he made several made-for-TV movies, including 1964's See How They Run, the first feature in that genre,Code Name: Heraclitus, Dark Intruder, The Return of Charlie Chan and numerous TV episodes. Nielsen also starred in a series produced by Laird was evidently an admirer of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. He based at least two episodes of Night Gallery on Lovecraft's work - "Pickman's Model" (based directly on the Lovecraft story of the same title Pickman's Model) and "Professor Peabody's Last Lecture". The dialogue of the 1965 horror movie Dark Intruder, produced by Laird, includes some references to alien beings invented by Lovecraft, tying the film to Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. In an early scene where Brett Kingsford meets with the police commissioner, opines that "gods older than the human race...deities like Dagon and Azathoth still have worshippers." He was an avid film collector and jazz fan.

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