Robert "Bob" Fisher (September 21, 1922 – September 19, 2008) was an American playwright, and television and film
screenwriter mostly of
situational comedy
A sitcom, a Portmanteau, portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troup ...
.
Biography
One of the most prolific of sitcom writers, Fisher began in television the 1950s by pairing up with a veteran radio writer twenty-five years his senior name
Alan Lipscott Lipscott and Fisher wrote the first episode of the
CBS-TV sitcom series ''
Make Room For Daddy
''The Danny Thomas Show'' (titled ''Make Room for Daddy'' for its first three seasons) is an American sitcom that ran from 1953 to 1957 on ABC and from 1957 to 1964 on CBS. Starring Danny Thomas as a successful night club entertainer, the show ...
'' (starring
Danny Thomas
Danny Thomas (born Amos Muzyad Yaqoob Kairouz; January 6, 1912 – February 6, 1991) was an American actor, singer, nightclub comedian, producer, and philanthropist. He created and starred in one of the most successful and long-running sitc ...
) in 1953, and went on to craft teleplays for ''
The Donna Reed Show
''The Donna Reed Show'' is an American sitcom starring Donna Reed as the middle-class housewife Donna Stone. Carl Betz co-stars as her pediatrician husband Dr. Alex Stone, and Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen as their teenage children, Mary ...
'', ''
Bachelor Father'' (which starred
John Forsythe
John Forsythe (January 29, 1918 – April 1, 2010) was an American stage, film/television actor, producer, narrator, drama teacher and philanthropist whose career spanned six decades. He also appeared as a guest on several talk and variety s ...
), ''Bronco'', ''How to Marry a Millionaire'', and others. Following Lipscott's death in 1961, Fisher then began writing with
Arthur Marx
Arthur Julius Marx (July 21, 1921April 14, 2011) was an American writer, the son of entertainer Groucho Marx and his first wife, Ruth Johnson.
Marx spent his early years accompanying his father around vaudeville circuits in the United States a ...
, and that partnership (which lasted for over twenty-five years) produced episodes of ''
McHale's Navy
''McHale's Navy'' is an American sitcom starring Ernest Borgnine that aired 138 half-hour episodes over four seasons, from October 11, 1962, to April 12, 1966, on the ABC television network. The series was filmed in black and white and originate ...
'', ''
My Three Sons
''My Three Sons'' is an American television sitcom that aired from September 29, 1960, to April 13, 1972. The series was broadcast on ABC during its first five seasons, before moving to CBS for the remaining seasons. ''My Three Sons'' chroni ...
'', ''The Mothers-in-Law'', the short lived ABC-TV series ''The Paul Lynde Show'', and NBC-TV's ''Life With Lucy'' in 1986. He and Marx were also story editors and frequent writers on CBS-TV's ''
Alice'' from 1977–1981.
[
Fisher also wrote occasionally with Arthur Alsberg (on I Dream of Jeannie and Mona McCluskey) and had three plays produced on Broadway: the hit '']The Impossible Years
''The Impossible Years'' is a 1965 comedy play written by Robert Fisher and Arthur Marx, son of comedian Groucho Marx. After two previews, the Broadway production, directed by Arthur Storch, opened on October 13, 1965, at the Playhouse Theatre, w ...
'' (with Marx), ''Minnie's Boys
''Minnie's Boys'' is a musical with a book by Arthur Marx (Groucho Marx's son) and Robert Fisher, music by Larry Grossman, and lyrics by Hal Hackady.
It provides a behind-the-scenes look at the early days of the Marx Brothers and their relati ...
'' (with Marx), and '' Happiness Is Just a Little Thing Called a Rolls Royce'' (with Alsberg), which closed after one performance.[
Fisher is also the author of the book "The Knight in Rusty Armor". A beautiful tale of man's journey to discover himself through a series of comic and tragic transformations.
]
Death
Fisher died in 2008 in Topanga, California
Topanga () (Tongva: ''Topaa'nga'') is a census-designated place (CDP) in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located in the Santa Monica Mountains, the community exists in Topanga Canyon and the surrounding hills. The narrow s ...
, just two days before his 86th birthday,
Works as screenwriter
His many works as a television writer included:
Partial filmography
Fisher also produced television episodes for:
Cheyenne
'
His plays included:The Impossible Years
''The Impossible Years'' is a 1965 comedy play written by Robert Fisher and Arthur Marx, son of comedian Groucho Marx. After two previews, the Broadway production, directed by Arthur Storch, opened on October 13, 1965, at the Playhouse Theatre, w ...
(1968)
*Minnie's Boys
''Minnie's Boys'' is a musical with a book by Arthur Marx (Groucho Marx's son) and Robert Fisher, music by Larry Grossman, and lyrics by Hal Hackady.
It provides a behind-the-scenes look at the early days of the Marx Brothers and their relati ...
(1970)
* Groucho: A Life in Revue (1987)
In his last few years he was said to lead a "a peripatetic lifestyle".
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Robert (playwright)
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
1922 births
2008 deaths
Writers from California