Herb Meadow (May 27, 1911 – March 1, 1995) was an American television producer and writer, born 1911 in Brooklyn, New York, best known for creating such series as ''

Have Gun – Will Travel ''Have Gun – Will Travel'' is an American Western series that was produced and originally broadcast by CBS on both television and radio from 1957 through 1963. The television version of the series starring Richard Boone was rated number t ...

''.

Early years

Meadow grew up in Brooklyn. A ninth-grade school dropout, he was a runner for a gangster and bootlegger during the

prohibition era Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacturing, manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption ...

in addition to selling sheet music and jewelry and working at an art supply business.

Career

When he was in his 20s, Meadow worked in radio in New York. In 1933, he became an actor, announcer, and writer at

WCNW WCNW (1560 kHz) is an AM radio station broadcasting a Christian radio format, combining instructional religious shows with Southern Gospel music. Licensed to Fairfield, Ohio, it serves the Cincinnati metropolitan area. The station is owned ...

in New York. He later became a writer in the

old-time radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the early ...

era, creating 350 scripts for the soap opera ''

Valiant Lady ''Valiant Lady'' is an American soap opera which ran daily on CBS radio and television from October 12, 1953, to August 16, 1957, at 12:00 PM (EST). The show's title was taken from a 1930s radio soap opera about a young woman struggling through ...

''. Meadow worked in Hollywood for more than 50 years. At age 83, he was still active, writing a screenplay that resulted in a $500,000 contract. He wrote at least 37 feature-length film scripts, of which a dozen were produced, including ''

The Redhead from Wyoming ''The Redhead from Wyoming'' is a 1953 American Western film produced by Leonard Goldstein and directed by Lee Sholem. It stars Maureen O'Hara as a saloon proprietress who becomes embroiled in a range war and Alex Nicol as the sheriff who tries ...

'', ''

The Strange Woman ''The Strange Woman'' is a 1946 American melodrama film directed by Edgar G. Ulmer and written by Ulmer and Hunt Stromberg, starring Hedy Lamarr, George Sanders and Louis Hayward. Originally released by United Artists, the film is now in the pub ...

'', ''

Stranger on Horseback ''Stranger on Horseback'' is a 1955 American Anscocolor Western film directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Joel McCrea. The screenplay is based on a story by Louis L'Amour. It was filmed in and around Sedona, Arizona. Plot Rick Thorne, a ci ...

'', and '' The Unguarded Moment''. On television, in addition to ''Have Gun – Will Travel'', Meadow created and wrote for ''

The Man from Blackhawk ''The Man From Blackhawk'' is a Western television series about an insurance investigator starring Robert Rockwell that aired on ABC from October 9, 1959 until September 9, 1960. The series was created by Frank Barron and produced by Herb Meadow. ...

'' and developed the ''

Arrest and Trial ''Arrest and Trial'' is a 90-minute American Crime film, crime/legal drama series that ran during the 1963-64 United States network television schedule, 1963-1964 season on American Broadcasting Company, ABC, airing Sundays from 8:30-10 pm North ...

'' series. Despite his many scripts, he would write only one book, ''Uncertain Glory'', a novelization of the screenplay by László Vadnay &

Max Brand Frederick Schiller Faust (May 29, 1892 – May 12, 1944) was an American writer known primarily for his Western stories using the pseudonym Max Brand. He (as Max Brand) also created the popular fictional character of young medical intern D ...

from the screenstory by Brand and

Joe May Joe May (born Joseph Otto Mandl; 7 November 1880 – 29 April 1954) was an Austrian film director and film producer and one of the pioneers of German cinema. Biography After studying in Berlin and a variety of odd jobs, he began his career a ...

( Grosset and Dunlap, 1944).

Personal life

Meadow was married twice. His first wife died in 1980, ending their 43-year marriage. His second marriage ended in divorce after six years, but the two continued to cohabit.

Death

Meadow died of a heart attack in 1995 in Los Angeles.The Los Angeles Times
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References

External links

* American television writers American male television writers American television producers 1911 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American radio writers Writers from Brooklyn 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American male writers {{US-tv-bio-stub