David Shaw

David Shaw (1916-2007) was interviewed for two hours plus in Beverly Hills, CA.  Shaw discussed his prolific career as a television writer that began in 1949 for the ABC “live” dramatic anthology series Actors Studio.  He spoke in great detail about his work on the series Philo-Goodyear Playhouse, for which he contributed the most teleplays of any writer.  For Philo-Goodyear, Shaw commented on several of his individual teleplays and talked about working with legendary producer Fred Coe.  Shaw described knowing and working with other such figures of the “Golden Age of Television Drama,” as director Delbert Mann, writer Paddy Chayefsky, and actress Eva Marie Saint.  Shaw discussed several series for which he served as a story editor including Mr. Peepers and The Defenders.  He described his teleplays for Producer’s Showcase ( including his Emmy-nominated adaptation of “Our Town”) and the six shows he wrote for Playhouse 90.  B-roll consisted of two photos, a head shot from the 1960s and Shaw behind-the-scenes on his Tony-Award-winning musical “Redhead,” starring Gwen Verdon.  The interview was conducted by Gary Rutkowski on August 31, 2004.