Garry Simpson
Director
About This Interview
Director Garry Simpson (1914-2011) discusses directing live demonstrations of early television technology around the country in the 1940s. He talks about directing some of the first televised sporting events, mobile events, and the informational series, Eye Witness. He describes directing and producing Wide Wide World (created by Pat Weaver), and chronicles the period before the war in the 1940s, when Simpson was NBC's only television stage manager. Simpson also details directing Chevrolet Tele-Theater, Mary Kay and Johnny (television's first sitcom), All Star Revue, Ford Festival, and Campbell's Soundstage. He recalls working with performers James Dean, Grace Kelly, Jimmy Durante, Ed Wynn, Jackie Gleason, Jack Carter, and Olivia de Havilland, and recounts leaving his position at NBC to spearhead the formation of Vermont public television. Karen Herman conducted the interview in Vermont on October 18, 1999.
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Highlights
Garry Simpson on the NBC television demonstration at the 1940 New York World's Fair with Burr Tillstrom
(03m 13s)
Garry Simpson on directing Grace Kelly on Chevrolet Tele-Theater (01m 15s)- Garry Simpson on directing James Dean (00m 41s)
Garry Simpson on directing Jimmy Durante in Four Star Revue (03m 12s)
Garry Simpson on directing sports
(02m 17s)
Chapters
- Chapter 1
- On his childhood and early influences; on acting in plays in high school and college; on getting accepted to West Point, but going to Stanford to study theater instead; on getting a scholarship to the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York; on working in experimental television for NBC in the late 1930s
- On the first time he heard about television; on the NBC television demonstration at the 1940 New York World's Fair with Burr Tillstrom; on Tillstrom's puppets; on the pavilion at the Fair; on technical challenges with early television; on audience response to the NBC television demonstrations; on directing the demonstrations and becoming the NBC studio stage manager in NY; on directing mobile units
- Chapter 2
- On directing mobile units for NBC; on NBC Studio 3-H; on his role as NBC stage manager; on working with nitrate film; on selecting films for television; on showing civil defense films during World War II; on serving as a test engineer for the Navy during the war
- On returning to NBC and how TV technology was advanced during the war; on old image orthicon cameras
- On post-war programs he directed - Chevrolet Tele-Theater; on directing Grace Kelly, Jack Lemmon, James Dean, and Gertrude Berg
- Chapter 3
- On directing actors Chevrolet Tele-Theater; on early makeup for television and the intense lighting; on covering the Joe Louis- Billy Conn fight in NY and Rocky Graziano's fights
- On covering Jackie Robinson's first televised game; on directing sports; on political coverage; on covering President Truman and President Eisenhower; on the documentary series Eye Witness, and in particular an episode which featured TV pioneer Vladimir Zworykin; on the low budget variety series Television Screen Magazine
- Chapter 4
- On directing Paris Cavalcade of Fashion; on directing inaugural broadcasts from Boston and Washington, D.C. (before coaxial cable connected cities); on directing Barney Blake, Police Reporter; on Red Channels and advertiser control over early TV programs
- On directing the sitcom Mary Kay and Johnny; on directing Macbeth for NBC- considered NBC's first "spectacular"; on working with NBC's Pat Weaver; on changing the look of the original Tonight Show; on directing Jimmy Durante, Ed Wynn, Johnny Carson, and Danny Thomas on Four Star Revue
- Chapter 5
- On directing Four Star Revue; on seeing Jimmy Durante's last show in Las Vegas; on directing Jimmy Durante in Four Star Revue; on working with Ed Wynn and Jackie Gleason
- On directing Jack Carson on Four Star Revue; on live television mishaps and a motorcyclist getting killed during a rehearsal
- Chapter 6
- On directing the Ford Festival; on Armstrong Circle Theatre; on working on Campbell's Summer Soundstage; on directing The World of Mr. Sweeney
- On innovate shots he directed on Wide Wide World ; on Robert Frost and Frank Lloyd Wright appearing on Wide Wide World; on directing Kitty Foyle
- Chapter 7
- On directing Tic Tac Doug h; on his preference for directing dramas; on working in videotape and how color affected television production; on getting fired from NBC in 1958; on directing commercials and directing Breck Golden Showcase for CBS in 1962;
- On becoming Director of Programming for Vermont PBS; on staying in touch with friends from NBC; on his demeanor as a director on set and working with writers
- Chapter 8
- On a picture of Sarah Bernhardt; on advice to an aspiring director; on how acting informed his directing; on what he believes represents the best of television; on Olivia de Havilland being somewhat of a mentor to him; on how he'd like to be remembered
- On people with whom he's worked: Morey Amsterdam, Fred Coe, James Dean, David and Robert Sarnoff, Tony Randall, Lorne Green, Roger Muir and Bob Keeshan; on his wife, Kathleen
- B-roll of pictures from his career: on NBC stages and at the 1977 Emmy Awards
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