Eddie August Brandt (August 5, 1920 – February 20, 2011) was an American composer and songwriter and television writer and animator, but is best remembered for his North Los Angeles store, Eddie Brandt's Saturday Matinee, which rents and sells videos and memorabilia.

Early life

Born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, the "teenage movie-theater usher" was able to collect

film memorabilia Film memorabilia are objects considered of value because of their connection to the cinema. These include costumes, props, advertising posters, and scripts, among other things. Fans have always coveted memorabilia, but in recent years, what was on ...

. One day, a man bought movie posters from him to decorate his bar, and Brandt realized there was a market for memorabilia.

Music

While serving in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as a "radar specialist" stationed in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, the self-taught piano player formed a band, Eddie Brandt and the Hollywood Hicks. "He composed music with

Spike Jones Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader specializing in spoof arrangements of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment were punctuated with gun ...

Spade Cooley Donnell Clyde "Spade" Cooley (December 17, 1910 – November 23, 1969) was an American convicted murderer and former Western swing musician, big band leader, actor, and television personality. In 1961 he was arrested and convicted for the Ap ...

Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Familiar to Broadway, radio, movie, and early television audiences, ...

and

George Motola George Louis Motola (November 15, 1919 – February 15, 1991) was an American record producer, songwriter and sound engineer from the 1950s until his death. Early life and career Motola, whose last name is often misspelled as Mottola, was born i ...

in the 1940s, producing hit songs including "Heaven Knows," "None but the Lonely Heart," "There's No Place Like Hawaii," "I'm Drowning My Sorrows," "The Tears in Your Eyes," "High School Romance," "Shortnin' Bread Rock" and "Rock and Roll Wedding."" After the war, he moved to Hollywood. In the early 1950s, he toured with trios and married a member of one of them, singer Ruthie James. His first marriage ended in 1956. He was also a bandleader for KLAC-TV Channel 13.

Television

In the 1950s, he wrote for the television shows ''

The Colgate Comedy Hour ''The Colgate Comedy Hour'' was an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show featured many notable comedians and entertainers of the era as guest stars. Many of the scripts of the series ...

'' and ''

The Spike Jones Show ''The Spike Jones Show'' was the name of several separate American comedy and variety show, variety series that aired on NBC and CBS in the 1950s and 1960s. The series was presented by actor and musician Spike Jones, his wife, musician Helen Gray ...

'', and both wrote for and performed on ''The Spade Cooley Show''. In the 1960s, he worked first as a cartoonist, writer (for a couple of episodes), composer and even voice performer for

Bob Clampett Robert Emerson Clampett Sr. (May 8, 1913 – May 2, 1984) was an American animator, director, producer and puppeteer. He was best known for his work on the '' Looney Tunes'' animated series from Warner Bros. as well as the television shows '' ...

on ''

Beany and Cecil ''Beany and Cecil'' is a 1962 animated television series created by Bob Clampett for the American Broadcasting Company. The cartoon was based on the television puppet show '' Time for Beany'', which Clampett produced for Paramount Pictures compan ...

''. He later became a writer for

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

, where he met his second wife, an animator named Claire. They married in 1968.

Eddie Brandt's Saturday Matinee

In 1967, the couple opened a memorabilia and thrift store in

North Hollywood North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The North ...

. In the late 1970s, it became the first to rent videos in Los Angeles. As of June 2011, it offers the largest selection of videos in one location in the country: 82,000 videos and 20,000 DVDs, including many that are rare and out of print. There are also about two million photographs and tens of thousands of movie posters. It is considered such a mecca for film buffs that

Ben Mankiewicz Benjamin Frederick Mankiewicz (born March 25, 1967) is an American television personality, political commentator, and film critic. He is a host on Turner Classic Movies and has been a commentator on '' The Young Turks'' and ''What the Flick?!'' ...

taped a segment about the store for

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasti ...

. Brandt suffered the first of a series of strokes and had to retire from the store. His wife Claire and their son Donovan now manage the business. He died at the age of 90 of

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel mo ...

. He was survived by his wife, four daughters and two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brandt, Eddie 1920 births 2011 deaths American male composers American composers American television writers American male television writers Businesspeople from Los Angeles Screenwriters from California 20th-century American businesspeople United States Navy personnel of World War II