| Al Simon | |
|---|---|
 Al Simon served as an associate producer and also wrote numerous episodes for "I Love Lucy". | |
| Personal Information | |
| Gender: | Male |
| Born: | November 11, 1911 |
| Birthplace: | New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | May 18, 2000 (aged 88) |
| Deathplace: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Career/Family Information | |
| Occupation/ Career: |
Producer/Screenwriter, Television executive |
| Years active: | 1932-1971 |
| Family Information | |
| Related to: | 1 son and granddaughter |
| Spouse(s): | Caro Jones, ?-2000, his death |
| Series connection | |
| Series involved with: | I Love Lucy |
| Role with series: |
Associate Producer, 33 episodes |
Al Simon (born November 11, 1911 - died May 18, 2000) [1] was an American television and radio producer and screenwriter qho helped create some of early television's most successful sitcoms as well as the technical wherewithal to save them on high-quality film for summer reruns and syndication. His most noticable work was having helped develop the popular 1950's CBS-TV sitcom series I Love Lucy, and The Burns and Allen Show. He also served as president of ilmways Productions, which produced the CBS-TV series as Mister Ed, The Beverly Hillbillies
Al Simmon owned a 1970 Chrysler 300 convertible, light blue in color.
Biography[]
Early life and career[]
Simon, born and raised in New York City, received a degree in English Literature from Columbia University in 1932, and a law degree from NYU. Later he taught a radio course and was director of publicity for New York's WHN-AM. He then fought for the U.S. army in WWII. He helped to invent the three-camera system in the 1940s. He later became president of Filmways Productions.[2]
Early television work[]
Simon ventured into the world of television in 1946, working on the production of live programs shot in Hollywood. He got his real start when Ralph Edwards took his radio show Truth or Consequences to television and hired Simon on as a writer. The show's sponsors pressed its producers to deliver an East Coast audience at a time when coast-to-coast transmission was technically impossible. The program was live and could be rebroadcast only by kinescopes of dubious quality. Refining a technique introduced some years earlier in the motion picture industry, Simon had Edwards record his show with three motion-picture cameras on 35-millimeter film and two-track audio. The resulting film equaled the picture quality of a live broadcast, and Truth or Consequences became the first program filmed regularly before a live audience.
Death[]
Simon died May 18, 2000 of Alzheimer’s disease at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He was survived by his wife, Caro Jones Simon; a son, a granddaughter and a niece. [3] He was interred and is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in the Glendale section of Los Angeles.
References[]
- ↑ Al Simon; Producer Who Paved Way for TV Reruns, by Elaine Wod, Staff Writer for the Los Angeles Times, May 24, 2000, accessed July 9, 2013.
- ↑ Al Simon, Variety.com article, by Abbi Toushin, May 26, 2000, 12:00pm, accessed July 9, 2013.
- ↑ Al Simon, Variety.com article, by Abbi Toushin, May 26, 2000, 12:00pm, accessed July 9, 2013.
External links[]
Al Simon at the Internet Movie Database- Al Simon at Find a Grave Memorial
