Mel Shavelson
Writer / Director / Show Creator
About This Interview
Mel Shavelson (1917-2007) was interviewed for four-and-a-half hours in Los Angeles, CA. Shavelson talked about starting out as a press agent with Milt Josefsberg in 1938. He moved to Los Angeles the following year, with Mr. Josefsberg, to write for the radio show "The Pepsodent Bob Hope Show." In 1947, he wrote for the first commercial television program ever broadcast west of the Mississippi, for Paramount's experimental station W6XYZ that became KTLA. In 1953, he created the sitcom Make Room For Daddy. Mr. Shavelson also discussed the critically acclaimed series My World and Welcome To It, which he also created. He reminisced about writing for several years of the Academy Awards broadcasts. He also talked about the Writers Guild of America, for which he served as president. He spoke about writing and directing the following television movies: The Legend of Valentino, The Great Houdini, and Ike. The interview was conducted by Karen Herman on April 6, 1999.
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Chapters
- Chapter 1
- On his early years and radio and film influences; on his education; on beginning his career as a comedy writer
Clip begins at: 0:0 - Chapter 2
- On teaming with Milt Josefsberg; on starting to write comedy for Bob Hope's radio shows
Clip begins at: 0:0 - Chapter 3
- On writing for Bob Hope; on radio censorship; on Bob Hope's jokes on McCarthyism
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On Bob Hope entertaining the troops during the Vietnam War
Clip begins at: 07:14 - On the emergence of television and on writing the script for the first television broadcast of KTLA starring Bob Hope
Clip begins at: 13:53 - On Bob Hope's joke files; on leaving Hope's radio show
Clip begins at: 26:19 - Chapter 4
- On working on punch-up for Bob Hope's films
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On creating and working on The Danny Thomas Show / Make Room for Daddy
Clip begins at: 03:40 - Chapter 5
- On the Hollywood Blacklist; on writing and directing the feature film The Seven Little Foys; on transitioning to directing
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On directing television movies; on writing material for Academy Awards telecaasts
Clip begins at: 17:01 - Chapter 6
- On writing for the Academy Awards; on the film and TV business in-general
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On creating My World and Welcome to It
Clip begins at: 16:21 - Chapter 7
- On his long association with The Writers Guild
Clip begins at: 0:0 - Chapter 8
- On his work on the miniseries Ike
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On his TV movie The Great Houdini (1976)
Clip begins at: 07:37 - On his film work including Houseboat and Cast a Giant Shadow
Clip begins at: 15:34 - On his advice to aspiring writers; on how he would like to be remembered
Clip begins at: 25:32 - Chapter 9
- On some of the people he worked with in his career including Milt Josefsberg, Sy Rose, Al Schwartz, Sheldon Leonard, Lucille Ball, Jack Rose; on his family
Clip begins at: 0:0
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This gentleman has truly done it all... his life and achievements are a genuine tribute to the "can-do" spirit of mid-20th century America... it shows how Mel's wit became the key to his survival and astounding rise within the growing entertainment industry from the late-1930s all the way up thru the early-2000s... especially during the first significant evolutionary period of US mass media -- when radio ushered television to the forefront, while also fostering its crossover into feature films and beyond. This interview shows clearly how the heart and soul of a screen writer propelled a boy from Brooklyn to the highest levels of Hollywood creativity and success... I'm a smarter person just for watching these interviews and learning about the man called Mel Shavelson. Thank you, good sir!
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