William Read "Billy" Woodfield (January 21, 1928 – November 24, 2001) was an American photographer, television screenwriter, and producer who took
black-and-white
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey.
Media
The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
photographs of American screen actors. He also wrote the screenplay to ''
the Hypnotic Eye
''The Hypnotic Eye'' is a 1960 horror film, released by Allied Artists on February 27, 1960, starring Jacques Bergerac, Allison Hayes, Merry Anders, Eric "Big Daddy" Nord, and Ferdinand Demara, billed as "Fred Demara".
Plot
A beautiful young ...
'' (1960).
Career
Publishing
In 1946 Woodfield began publishing ''Magicana,'' a trade paper for magicians. In 1948 his newsletter became a regular column in ''
Genii'' magazine.
[
] He would continue writing the column until 1949, eventually shifting his focus to photography. In 1961, Woodfield co-authored ''
The Ninth Life'' with
Martin Machlin, documenting the infamous
Caryl Chessman
Caryl Whittier Chessman (May 27, 1921 – May 2, 1960) was a convicted robber, kidnapper and serial rapist who was sentenced to death for a series of crimes committed in January 1948 in the Los Angeles area. Chessman was charged with 17 counts a ...
murder trial and execution. He would continue writing and publishing literature into the 1980s.
Photography
Working for
Globe Photos, Woodfield's began taking celebrity photographs which began appearing in publications as early as 1957,
[
] photographing
Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood ( Zacharenko; July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was an American actress who began her career in film as a child and successfully transitioned to young adult roles.
Wood started acting at age four and was given a co-starring r ...
in 1959 and
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...
for Life magazine. Woodfield's photographs accompanied
Peter Ustinov
Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (born Peter Alexander Freiherr von Ustinov ; 16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, filmmaker and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits ...
's writing in ''
Ustinov's Diplomats''. In 1968, Woodfield published ''
The Execution'', his first solo written work.
In 1962 Woodfield—along with
Lawrence Schiller
Lawrence Julian Schiller (born December 28, 1936) is an American photojournalist, film producer, director and screenwriter.
Career
Schiller was born in 1936 in Brooklyn to Jewish parents and grew up outside of San Diego, California. After atten ...
and
Jimmy Mitchell—gained fame when
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
extended an invitation to a photo shoot on a closed set at the
Twentieth Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...
studio lot. The publicity shoot took place in the swimming pool that was to be used in what would have been her final film ''
Something's Got To Give
''Something's Got to Give'' is an unfinished American feature film shot in 1962, directed by George Cukor for 20th Century Fox and starring Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin and Cyd Charisse. A remake of ''My Favorite Wife'' (1940), a screwball comedy ...
''.
[
]
Television
In the 1960s and 1970s, Woodfield would team with writer/producer
Allan Balter to earn numerous awards for work in television. The team was nominated numerous times. As a screenwriter, Woodfield's award nominations included a
Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay – Episodic Drama in 1966 for ''
Mission: Impossible''; winning the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series is an award presented annually by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It was first awarded at the 7th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, held in 1955 and it is given in ...
in 1968 as a writer for ''
Mission: Impossible;'' and earning another
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
nomination in 1971 for
Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama credited with ''Original Teleplay'' for the short-lived 1970 NBC series ''
San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport is an international airport in an unincorporated area of San Mateo County, south of Downtown San Francisco. It has flights to points throughout North America and is a major gateway to Europe, the Middle E ...
.''
[
]
Woodfield and Balter were credited with opening up ''Mission: Impossible's'' story lines, which had previously been physical problems to solve (break into a prison, uncover a hidden message), by having the agents play
grand-scale confidence games on the mission targets, to misdirect and manipulate them. "Billy Woodfield, a con devotee and self-described 'apprentice cheat,' was the prime mover behind the IMF's transformation into con artists. The approach had great story potential, gave the series its own identity, and helped make Mission a hit."
Woodfield died of heart failure in Los Angeles in 2001.
[
][
]
Filmography
* 1965 ''
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (TV series)
''Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'' is a 1964–1968 American science fiction television series based on the 1961 film of the same name. Both were created by Irwin Allen, which enabled the film's sets, costumes, props, special effects models, a ...
'' ''Writer''
* 1967 ''
Mission: Impossible'' ''Writer'', ''Producer''
* 1968 ''
Mission: Impossible'' ''Writer'', ''Producer''; ''
Lost in Space
''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series, created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. The series was inspired by the 1812 novel ''The Swiss Family Robinson.'' The series fo ...
'' ''Writer''
* 1969 ''
Mission: Impossible'' ''Writer'', ''Producer''
* 1969 ''
Mission: Impossible vs. the Mob'' ''Writer''
* 1971 ''
San Francisco International Airport (TV series)
''San Francisco International Airport'' is a television drama that was originally aired in the United States by NBC as a part of its 1970–71 wheel series ''Four in One''.
The series starred Lloyd Bridges as Jim Conrad, the manager of the giga ...
'' ''Writer'', ''Producer''
* 1972 ''
Earth II
''Earth II'' is a 1971 pilot, aired November 28 (and released theatrically outside North America), for a television series about a colony established in orbit around the Earth. A WABE Production in association with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Televis ...
'' (TV pilot) ''Writer'', ''Producer''
* 1974 ''
Shaft (TV series)
''Shaft'' is a series of television films that aired along with '' Hawkins'' and other TV films during 1973–74 television season on '' The New CBS Tuesday Night Movies''. Broadcast every third week, the series is a continuation of the three fil ...
'' ''Writer'', ''Producer''
References
External links
Fandango pageNew York Times Movies page*
*
French Wikipedia article
Interview with Woodfield
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodfield, William
American television producers
American male screenwriters
20th-century American photographers
2001 deaths
1928 births
Writers Guild of America Award winners
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American screenwriters