Leonard B. Stern, American television director, producer, and writer (Get Smart), creator of The Honeymooners, co-creator of Mad Libs died he was , 87.

Leonard Bernard Stern was an American screenwriter, film and television producer, director, and one of the creators, with Roger Price, of the classic word game Mad Libs died he was , 87.



(December 23, 1923 – June 7, 2011)

Life and career

Stern was born in New York City.^[1] He studied at New York University.^[1] Stern was a successful television writer who wrote for such now classic series such as Get Smart,^[1] The Honeymooners, The Phil Silvers Show,^[1] The Steve Allen Show^[1] and Steve Allen's Tonight Show. He also was a writer for the 1952 Danny Thomas and Peggy Lee version of The Jazz Singer and several Abbott and Costello films, among others. In the 1970s, he produced and directed the TV series McMillan and Wife, which starred Rock Hudson.^[2]
Stern was the senior vice president of Price Stern Sloan (PSS).^{[citation needed]} In 2000, after Price's death, Stern and another partner (Sloan) launched another publishing company, Tallfellow Press, and acquired the rights to Droodles.^{[citation needed]} Stern co-wrote, with Diane L. Robinson, A Martian Wouldn't Say That (2000), a compilation of actual memos and notes from television executives.

Death

On June 7, 2011, Stern died of heart failure at at his home in Beverly Hills, California, aged 88.^[1] He was survived by his wife of 55 years, actress Gloria Stroock, as well as a son, daughter, two grandchildren, and a great-granddaughter.^[1]

Film and television credits

Producer

• I'm Dickens, He's Fenster (1962-1963)
• Duncan Be Careful (1964)
• Supermarket Sweep (1965)
• Get Smart (1965-1968)
• Run Buddy Run (1966)
• He & She (1967-1968)
• The Good Guys (1968-1970)
• The Governor & J.J. (1969-1970)
• Shepherd's Flock (1971)
• McMillan & Wife (1971-1976)
• The Snoop Sisters (1972-1974)
• Faraday & Company (1973)
• Diana (1973)
• Brock's Last Case (1973)
• Koska and His Family (1973)
• Phillip and Barbara (1976)
• Holmes and Yo-Yo (1976-1977)
• Lanigan's Rabbi (1976)
• Three Times Daley (1976)
• Rosetti and Ryan (1977)
• Operation Petticoat (1977-1978)
• Partners in Crime (1984)
• Get Smart, Again! (1989)
• Missing Pieces (1992)

Writer

• Africa Screams (1949)
• Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town (1950)
• Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion (1950)
• The Milkman (1952)
• Okinawa (1952)
• Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair (1952)
• Lost in Alaska (1952)
• The Jazz Singer (1952)
• Three for the Show (1955)
• The Steve Allen Plymouth Show (1956)
• The Honeymooners (1955-1956)
• The Phil Silvers Show (1956)
• The Jackie Gleason Show (1953-1956)

Director

• I'm Dickens, He's Fenster (1962-1963)
• Run Buddy Run (1966)
• He & She (1967)
• The Good Guys (1968)
• The Governor & J.J. (1969)
• McMillan & Wife (1971)
• The Snoop Sisters (1972)
• Diana (1973)
• Phillip and Barbara (1976)
• Holmes and Yo-Yo (1976)
• Lanigan's Rabbi (1977)
• Just You and Me, Kid (1979)
• Partners in Crime (1984)
• Missing Pieces (1992)

Awards

• Emmy Award, 1957, Best Comedy Writing-variety Or Situation Comedy (The Phil Silvers Show)
• Emmy Award, 1967, Outstanding Writing Achievement In Comedy (Get Smart)

 

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