Robert Illes
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Robert Illes (born May 17, 1948 in
Downey, California Downey is a city located in Southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States, southeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is considered part of the Gateway Cities. The city is the birthplace of the Apollo space program. It is also the home of ...
) is an American award-winning
screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...
,
television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television net ...
,
playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
and
author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
.


Early life

Robert Illes was born in
Downey, California Downey is a city located in Southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States, southeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is considered part of the Gateway Cities. The city is the birthplace of the Apollo space program. It is also the home of ...
to immigrant parents. His father Peter Illes (1920–2002) who spent some 40 years in the printing and stationery business in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, was a native of
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
, emigrating to central California in 1931. Mother Pauline Corne (1924- ) is a native of
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
, England. His parents met and married during World War II in Norwich, where Peter was serving in the U. S. 8th Air Force. They moved to the Southern California area after the war, eventually settling in Los Angeles. Robert has a brother and two sisters. Illes attended Los Angeles public schools, where he excelled in art and creative writing, graduating George Washington High School before entering the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
in Los Angeles, studying telecommunications and journalism. He worked briefly for the
Daily Trojan The ''Daily Trojan'', or "DT," is the student newspaper of the University of Southern California. The newspaper is a forum for student expression and is written, edited, and managed by university students. The paper is intended to inform USC st ...
as a reporter before becoming a comedy newscaster for KUSC-FM, then a student run radio station.


The Stein & Illes Radio Show

He soon teamed up with another student,
James R. Stein James R. Stein is an American screenwriter and television producer. For his work on ''The Carol Burnett Show ''The Carol Burnett Show'' is an American variety/sketch comedy television show that originally ran on CBS from September 11, ...
to co-host the Saturday night Stein & Illes comedy radio show for three years. They became very popular with the burgeoning FM underground audience. The show was a pre-Howard Stern-style free-for-all, featuring characters voiced by the two, as well as "live" regulars including Robert's brother, musician Rick, providing the show "orchestra" and Steven "Larry J. Felix" Kutcher, an entomologist (insect expert) who gave a weekly USDA "bug report", and was comic foil. Marcia Levine was the show's long suffering and diligent producer. A number of fans of the show remain friends including brothers Dennis and Brian Pollack who also became professional TV comedy writers. Brian went on to win three
Emmys The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
as a writer for Cheers. Stein and Illes returned to the radio some 20 years later for a brief renewal of their performing chops.


Television

After several failed attempts to get into professional radio - which at the time was becoming less and less "personality driven", the two by chance took a course in TV writing at USC given by TV producer/writer
Digby Wolfe James Digby Wolfe (4 June 19292 May 2012) was a British actor. After a successful career in the UK and Australia, his later career was based in the US. Early life James Digby Wolfe was born to a father who was an international banker and a m ...
, at the time producing a Tennessee Ernie Ford special for NBC. Wolfe decided to hire two students writers, and Bob and Jim, after writing a Tennessee Ernie Ford spec monologue, were selected. Their performer days ended when their radio show was "canceled" around this time, and they remained behind the scenes writers and producers, with occasional forays in front of the camera, or appearances at KPFK fundraisers. As a result of that experience, they met William Morris agent Michael Ovitz, who was himself a fan of the Stein and Illes radio show. Although barely older than the two writers, Ovitz took them under his wing. In 1971, they worked with co-writers Bob Einstein ("Super Dave") and Steve Martin on a short lived syndicated series, Tom Smothers' Organic Primetime Space Ride. In 1972, they were hired as writers on The New Bill Cosby variety show for CBS, where they settled into writing Bill Cosby monologues. Thereafter, Robert and James wrote for a Lily Tomlin Special, which along with the writing staff that included Lorne Michaels and Herb Sergeant, earned them their first of two Emmy awards (and four nominations). They worked on a number of series and specials including John Denver, Sonny Bono, and a short-lived new Smothers Brothers series on NBC. During this time, they wrote three episodes for the classic series Sanford and Son. Producer Aaron Ruben called Bob at the behest of William Morris because he was a fan of KUSC – not of their old college radio show, but of the classical music! Nevertheless, Bob and Jim, who had never written a situation comedy episode before, ventured in to see the great Ruben and sold him on a story right off the bat. They wrote a total of three episodes for the series, and in doing so created the character of Aunt Esther's husband, Woody. They went on to create a CBS television series for Richard "Clemenza" Costellano in 1975 titled Joe and Sons which lasted for a half a season in 1975-76. Also in the show were future Tony award winner Barry Miller and Jerry Stiller. After Joe and Sons went off the air, Bob and Jim travels as TV writers took them to programs as varied as
The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS ''Pac ...
, Steve Allen's Laughback, Steve Allen's 3rd Annual Miss Las Vegas Show Girl Pageant, Phyllis Diller's 102nd Birthday Party, (Dick) Van Dyke and Company (reunited with Bob Einstein and Steve Martin, and for which they received their second Emmy nomination), One Day at a Time, the classic Fernwood 2Night, starring
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and
Fred Willard Frederic Charles Willard (September 18, 1933 May 15, 2020) was an American actor, comedian, and writer. He was best known for his roles in the Rob Reiner mockumentary film ''This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984); the Christopher Guest mockumentaries ''Wai ...
, renamed America 2Night (for which they received an Emmy nomination for Best Writing),
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,
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(where they were often on camera as comedy performers), and
The Carol Burnett Show ''The Carol Burnett Show'' is an American variety/sketch comedy television show that originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 279 episodes, and again with nine episodes in fall 1991. It starred Carol Burnett, Harvey ...
. The Carol Burnett Show, which in its 11th season featured guest stars
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,
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,
Bernadette Peters Bernadette Peters ( ''née'' Lazzara; born February 28, 1948) is an American actress, singer, and children's book author. Over a career spanning more than six decades, she has starred in musical theatre, television and film, performed in solo co ...
, and
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, among others, earned Robert and James their second writing Emmy. After Carol pulled the plug on her own show, Bob and Jim went on to write for the
Mary Tyler Moore Mary Tyler Moore (December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017) was an American actress, producer, and social advocate. She is best known for her roles on ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' (1961–1966) and ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), which ...
"sit-var" which starred among others
David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982 debut of ''Late Night with David Letterman' ...
and
Michael Keaton Michael John Douglas (born September 5, 1951), known professionally as Michael Keaton, is an American actor. He is known for his various comedic and dramatic film roles, including Jack Butler in ''Mr. Mom'' (1983), Betelgeuse in ''Beetlejuice'' ( ...
,
Dick Clark's Live Wednesday ''Dick Clark's Live Wednesday'' is a 1978 NBC variety television series, sometimes called simply ''Live Wednesday''. Hosted by Dick Clark, it was a musical show much like Clark's '' American Bandstand''. Announcers on the series included Jerry Bi ...
, Dick Clark's Good Ol' Days, A New Kind of Family starring
Eileen Brennan Eileen Brennan (born Verla Eileen Regina Brennen; September 3, 1932 – July 28, 2013) was an American actress. She made her film debut in the satire ''Divorce American Style'' (1967), followed by a supporting role in Peter Bogdanovich's ''The L ...
with a teenaged
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and a 9 year old
Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...
, Flo – a spin-off of Alice starring
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, Private Benjamin and a five-year run producing and executive producing Silver Spoons starring
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on NBC. Silver Spoons also featured young
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as Ricky's rival Derek, and John Houseman as Grandfather Stratton.
Gary Coleman Gary Wayne Coleman (February 8, 1968 – May 28, 2010) was an American actor and comedian. Coleman was the highest-paid child actor on television throughout the late 1970s and 1980s. He was rated first on a list of VH1's "100 Greatest Kid ...
and
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also made a memorable guest appearance. Bob and Jim brought over Frank "Happy Kyne" deVol of Fernwood 2Night fame to guest star in a special episode. After Silver Spoons, Illes and Stein went on to write and produce The Motown Revue starring Smokey Robinson which was a memorable summer series featuring such well-known guests as
Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
, the
Four Tops The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet from Detroit who helped to define the city's Motown sound of the 1960s. The group's repertoire has included soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes. Founded as the ...
,
Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...
,
Mary Wells Mary Esther Wells (May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992) was an American singer, who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s. Along with The Supremes, The Miracles, The Temptations, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and the F ...
,
Martha Reeves Martha Rose Reeves (born July 18, 1941) is an American R&B and pop singer. She is the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas which scored over a dozen hit singles, including "Come and Get These Memories", " Nowhere to R ...
,
Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singe ...
,
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and many others. In the cast of regular performers were
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(Soul Train),
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(the one and only) and
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(CSI:Miami and Treme). Illes and Stein continued to write and produce pilots into the late 80's, including a Jim Nabors project called Sylvan in Paradise, and an animated pilot starring the voices of Stan Freberg, Rose Marie, Pat Paulsen, Jayne Meadows and Harry Shearer, The Jackie Bison Show. Another short lived series upon which they were creative consultants was a CBS project for
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, Nearly Departed, and executive produced Amen starring
Sherman Hemsley Sherman Alexander Hemsley (February 1, 1938 – July 24, 2012) was an American actor. He was known for his roles as George Jefferson on the CBS television series ''All in the Family'' (1973–1975; 1978) and ''The Jeffersons'' (1975–1985), Dea ...
. Illes and Stein returned briefly to radio on Los Angeles' KIEV (now KRLA) for six months in 1992, with frequent guest appearances by Pat McCormick and Bob "Super Dave" Einstein. In the mid 1990s, after working together on the talk show parody Night Stand, Illes and Stein went their separate ways, having worked together for over 25 years.


Solo career

Illes left the team to write and produce the long running Sister, Sister at
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
TV and co-created the UPN series
Goode Behavior ''Goode Behavior'' is an American sitcom that premiered August 26, 1996, on UPN. The series was cancelled after one season, airing its last episode on May 19, 1997, for a total of 22 episodes. Synopsis Willie Goode (Sherman Hemsley) is a newly ...
, starring
Sherman Hemsley Sherman Alexander Hemsley (February 1, 1938 – July 24, 2012) was an American actor. He was known for his roles as George Jefferson on the CBS television series ''All in the Family'' (1973–1975; 1978) and ''The Jeffersons'' (1975–1985), Dea ...
and
Dorien Wilson Dorien Leon Wilson (born July 5, 1963) is an American actor known for his role as Professor Stanley Oglevee on the UPN sitcom '' The Parkers'' (the spin-off series of ''Moesha'', which ran from 1999 to 2004), his recurring role as Terrence Winn ...
, and was consulting producer for City Guys, a popular Saturday morning teen sit com from the creators of Saved by the Bell. He also wrote multiple episodes for
Family Matters ''Family Matters'' is an American television sitcom that debuted on ABC on September 22, 1989, and ended on May 9, 1997. However it moved to CBS, where it was shown from September 19, 1997, to July 17, 1998. A spin-off of '' Perfect Strangers ...
. In 2000, Illes traveled to Florida to produce another pilot for Sherman Hemsley, and later wrote for the
Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
series "Guilty or Innocent?". Illes finally entered the world of "reality" with the special for TVLand network titled "Living in TV Land starring Sherman Hemsley", and an Office-style reality show called "Caffe Etc." for the Internet.


Personal life

Robert Illes married Mary Ann Herrera in 1970. She was a fan of his radio show, and they met when she visited the studio with her cousins. They had two daughters, Angela and Brooke, and one son, Nathan. Brooke earned a master's degree in speech; Nathan is a songwriter and much sought after drummer in a number of Los Angeles bands and an ex-champion softball centerfielder and leadoff batter and Angela is a pastry chef. They have all appeared in Robert's television productions over the years. They have also produced four grandchildren. Robert and Mary Ann divorced in 1982, after which he married actress Barbara Pariot, the voice of Valerie on ''
Josie and the Pussycats Josie and the Pussycats (sometimes simply known as The Pussycats) are a fictional girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense i ...
'' and for many years a story editor at
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
They have one son, Nicholas, an artist. Illes still resides in Los Angeles, continuing to write scripts and consult with cohorts on projects, as well as mentoring newcomers. He has been a member of a number of panels on the TV writing business at UCLA and the Writers Guild of America. In extracurricular activities, Robert Illes has been a guest judge at The World Championships of Performing Arts since 2007, and has for many years been an online mentor for the
Writers Guild of America West The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) is a labor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers. It was formed in 1954 from five organizations representing writers, including the Screen Writers Guild. It has around 20,000 m ...
. He has written extensively for progressive publications, most notably the Valley Democrats United newsletter and the website LA Progressive, and contributed pieces for several magazines on the writing business. Robert has been developing a television writing course and is writing a book on TV writing and his experiences in the television industry. He hosted an internet radio show, ''Funny is Money'', on Shokus Radio nightly at 8 PM Pacific time from 2006 to 2012.


References


External links

* *
Dick and Sharon's LA Progressive


{{DEFAULTSORT:Illes, Robert American male screenwriters Television producers from California Emmy Award winners Living people People from Downey, California 1948 births University of Southern California alumni Screenwriters from California