Person
Norman Abbott
New York City, New York, USA
Norman Abbott (July 11, 1922 – July 9, 2016) was an American vaudevillian, actor, producer and television director. Abbott was born in New York City, where his uncle, comedian Bu…
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Norman Abbott (July 11, 1922 – July 9, 2016) was an American vaudevillian, actor, producer and television director. Abbott was born in New York City, where his uncle, comedian Bud Abbott, and his mother raised him. His early experience in entertainment was as a vaudeville performer, including summers working the 'borscht circuit" in resorts in the Catskill Mountains of New York. In the early 1940s, he and Pat Costello (brother of Lou Costello) worked as stand-ins for the better-known act during filming of Who Done It? (1942).[3] During World War II, Abbott served as a member of the original United States Navy SEALs team. After the war, Abbott became a dialog director on the Abbott and Costello films and was mentored by the team's director, Charles T. Barton. Abbott later directed episodes of The Jack Benny Program, Leave It to Beaver, Get Smart, The Munsters, Welcome Back, Kotter, Dennis the Menace, and Sanford and Son. Abbott's obituary in The Hollywood Reporter described him as "the brainchild behind the Broadway sensation Sugar Babies, the comeback vehicle for Mickey Rooney in the late 1970s". He conceived the idea of a Broadway musical based on burlesque after inheriting his uncle's "treasure trove of burlesque material, including written gags, props, music and posters".[4] Despite his having originated the concept, Abbott was fired as director of the show after two weeks of rehearsing.
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
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1995
Empire of the Censors
Movie Self
-
1984
Charles in Charge
TV show Director
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1981
A Love Letter to Jack Benny
Movie Director
-
1980
Nobody's Perfect
TV show Director
-
1979
California Fever
TV show Director
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1979
Working Stiffs
TV show Director
-
1979
Angie
TV show Director
-
1977
Father Knows Best: Home for Christmas
Movie Director
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1977
Fish
TV show Director
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1976
NBC: The First Fifty Years
Movie Creative Consultant
-
1976
Alice
TV show Director
-
1975
When Things Were Rotten
TV show Director
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1975
Welcome Back, Kotter
TV show Director
-
1974
That's My Mama
TV show Director
-
1972
Once Upon a Tour
Movie Director
-
1972
Sanford and Son
TV show Director
More credits
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1971
Film '72
TV show Self
-
1970
Nanny and the Professor
TV show Director
-
1969
Love, American Style
TV show Director
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1969
The Brady Bunch
TV show Director
-
1969
Room 222
TV show Director
-
1968
Jack Benny's Bag
Movie Director
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1968
Blondie
TV show Director
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1968
Adam-12
TV show Director
-
1966
The Last of the Secret Agents?
Movie Director
-
1965
Get Smart
TV show Director
-
1964
Karen
TV show Director
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1964
The Munsters
TV show Director
-
1962
McHale's Navy
TV show Director
-
1962
I'm Dickens, He's Fenster
TV show Director
-
1959
Dennis the Menace
TV show Director
-
1958
The All-Star Christmas Show
Movie Director
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1957
Leave It to Beaver
TV show Director
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1957
Bachelor Father
TV show Director
-
1954
Anything Goes
Movie Radio Announcer
-
1953
Walking My Baby Back Home
Movie Doc
-
1950
The Colgate Comedy Hour
TV show Self
-
1948
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein
Movie Dialogue Coach
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1943
Keep 'Em Slugging
Movie Ape
-
1942
Who Done It?
Movie 'Murder at Midnight' Organist
