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Norman Abbott

Known For
Directing

Known Credits
9

Gender
Male

Birthday
July 11, 1922 (104 years old)

Place of Birth
New York City, New York, USA

Norman Abbott

Biography

Norman Abbott (July 11, 1922 – July 9, 2016) was an American vaudevillian, actor, producer and television director.

Abbott was born in New York City, where his uncle, comedian Bud Abbott, and his mother raised him. His early experience in entertainment was as a vaudeville performer, including summers working the 'borscht circuit" in resorts in the Catskill Mountains of New York.

In the early 1940s, he and Pat Costello (brother of Lou Costello) worked as stand-ins for the better-known act during filming of Who Done It? (1942).[3]

During World War II, Abbott served as a member of the original United States Navy SEALs team.

After the war, Abbott became a dialog director on the Abbott and Costello films and was mentored by the team's director, Charles T. Barton. Abbott later directed episodes of The Jack Benny Program, Leave It to Beaver, Get Smart, The Munsters, Welcome Back, Kotter, Dennis the Menace, and Sanford and Son.

Abbott's obituary in The Hollywood Reporter described him as "the brainchild behind the Broadway sensation Sugar Babies, the comeback vehicle for Mickey Rooney in the late 1970s". He conceived the idea of a Broadway musical based on burlesque after inheriting his uncle's "treasure trove of burlesque material, including written gags, props, music and posters".[4] Despite his having originated the concept, Abbott was fired as director of the show after two weeks of rehearsing.

Known For

Directing

1984Charles in Charge...Director
1981A Love Letter to Jack Benny...Director
1980Nobody's Perfect...Director
1979California Fever...Director
1979Working Stiffs...Director
1979Angie...Director
1977Father Knows Best: Home for Christmas...Director
1977Fish...Director
1976Alice...Director
1975When Things Were Rotten...Director
1975Welcome Back, Kotter...Director
1974That's My Mama...Director
1972Once Upon a Tour...Director
1972Sanford and Son...Director
1970Nanny and the Professor...Director
1969Love, American Style...Director
1969The Brady Bunch...Director
1969Room 222...Director
1968Jack Benny's Bag...Director
1968Blondie...Director
1968Adam-12...Director
1966The Last of the Secret Agents?...Director
1965Get Smart...Director
1964Karen...Director
1964The Munsters...Director
1962McHale's Navy...Director
1962I'm Dickens, He's Fenster...Director
1959Dennis the Menace...Director
1958The All-Star Christmas Show...Director
1957Leave It to Beaver...Director
1957Bachelor Father...Director

Crew

1976NBC: The First Fifty Years...Creative Consultant
1948Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein...Dialogue Coach

Production

1972Once Upon a Tour...Producer
1966The Last of the Secret Agents?...Producer

Writing

1966The Last of the Secret Agents?...Story

Acting

1995Empire of the Censorsas Self
1954Anything Goesas Radio Announcer
1953Walking My Baby Back Homeas Doc
1950The Colgate Comedy Houras Self
1943Keep 'Em Sluggingas Ape
1942Who Done It?as 'Murder at Midnight' Organist
1942The Affairs of Marthaas Newsboy (uncredited)
1942Grand Central Murderas Whistling Messenger (uncredited)
1942Rio Ritaas Hotel Laundry Boy (uncredited)