Leonard Stern

Leonard Stern (1922-2011) was interviewed for five hours (in two sessions) in Los Angeles, CA.  Stern discussed his introduction to show business, writing jokes for Milton Berle.  He described his work in network radio, notably his work on “The Abbott and Costello Show,” which led to writing in feature films for the duo.  He described his first writing work for The Jackie Gleason Show, particularly “The Honeymooners” sketches.  He described his work as a writer with Sydney Zelinka on many of the classic Honeymooners episodes during its one-year run as a series (1955-56), including “The $99,000 Answer,” “Alice and the Blonde,” and “The Babysitter.”  Mr. Stern talked about his Emmy-winning work as a writer on The Phil Silvers Show.  He talked about his work as a writer on The Steve Allen Show in the 1960s and his later work that decade as a writer-producer on such series as I’m Dickens He’s Fenster and Get Smart.   As the executive-producer for Get Smart during its full run from 1965-70, Stern gave a full account of the landmark satirical show.  Stern described his work as creator-writer-producer of such series as The Hero ( 1966-67), He & She (1967-70), and The Governor and J.J. (1969-72). Finally, he talked about his work as writer-producer-director of McMillan and Wife (1971-76) and Lanigan’s Rabbi (1967-77) and his later work on Partners in Crime (as creator and director, 1984), and Murphy’s Law (as co-executive producer, 1988-89). Mr. Stern also described his ventures in publishing, including his co-creation with Roger Price of Mad Libs.  In Part II of his interview, Stern talked about knowing Academy of Television Arts & Sciences founder Syd Cassyd and commented on the early years of the Academy and the Emmy Awards; he also talked about his participation in the 2008 feature film version of Get Smart, starring Steve Carell.  The interview was conducted by Gary Rutkowski on July 13, 2000 and by Jenni Matz on August 20, 2008.