Rod Amateau

After starting his career as a writer for CBS radio, Rod Amateau worked his way up the 20th Century Fox ladder from junior writer to test director to second-unit director to dialogue director before finally making his feature directorial debut with "The Bushwackers" (1952), a Western of interest mostly for the sermonizing in his (and Tom Gries') script, which offered parallels to the political climate in America during the post-Civil War and post-World War II eras. Though he directed another film that year ("Monsoon"), he would not return to features for 17 years, carving out instead a substantial career as a producer-director-writer of TV series, beginning with "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" (CBS, 1950-58).

Despite backing a few duds (i.e., "The Charlie Farrell Show", CBS 1956; "Peter Loves Mary", CBS 1960-61), Amateau boasted an impressive track record during the 1950s and 60s with his high-profile involvement in hits like "Private Secretary" (CBS, 1953-57), "Dobie Gillis" (CBS, 1959-63), "Mr. Ed" (syndicated 1960-61; CBS, 1961-66) and "The Patty Duke Show" (ABC, 1963-66), not to mention directing the pilot episode of "Gilligan's Island" for CBS in 1964. He was a dominant force behind the short-lived "My Mother the Car" (NBC, 1965-66) and the even shorter-lived "O.K. Crackerby" (ABC, 1965-66) and directed a couple of unsuccessful pilots ("Where There's Smokey", CBS 1966, starring Soupy Sales; "Weekend", NBC 1967) before returning to features.

Amateau's sitcom success did not translate to the big screen comedies he wrote and/or directed ("Hook, Line and Sinker" 1969; "The Statue" 1970; "Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You" 1971; and "Where Does It Hurt?" 1972). Ironically, his most successful films were two thrillers, "The Wilby Conspiracy" (1975, which he co-adapted and directed the action sequences) and Sam Peckinpah's "The Osterman Weekend" (1983, on which he served as second unit director). He scored one more big TV hit as a supervising producer and director of "The Dukes of Hazzard" (CBS, 1979-1985) and also wrote episodes for "The Fall Guy" (ABC, 1981-86), but clearly his batting average was slipping as his subsequent string of unsold pilots attests. Amateau produced, helmed and co-scripted the disappointing "The Garbage Pail Kids Movie" (1987), his last directorial credit to date.

• Also Credited As:
  Rodney Amateau
• Born:
  December 20, 1923 in New York City, New York, USA
• Job Titles:
  Director, Producer, Screenwriter, Dialogue director, Novelist, Radio writer, Second unit director, Stage manager

Family

• Daughter: Susan Amateau. born c. 1946; mother, Collen Gray

Milestones

• 1941 Served in US Army
• 1950 Produced TV series, The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (CBS); also directed episodes
• 1951 Served as dialogue director for the film noir, Cry Danger
• 1952 Directed first feature, The Bushwhackers ; also co-scripted
• 1964 Directed the pilot episode of Gilligan s Island (CBS)
• 1969 Wrote screenplay for George Marshall s Hook, Line & Sinker , starring Jerry Lewis
• 1970 Returned to feature directing with The Statue , starring David Niven
• 1971 Wrote and directed Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You
• 1972 Produced, directed and co-wrote (with Budd Robinson) Where Does It Hurt? , adapted from his and Robinson s novel The Operator ; also starred Niven
• 1975 Co-adapted and served as second unit director (action sequences) for Ralph Nelson s The Wilby Conspiracy , a political thriller set in South Africa starring Sidney Poitier
• 1979 Produced and directed episodes of Supertrain (NBC), an expensive bust of a series
• 1983 Handled second unit director duties on The Osterman Weekend , directed by Sam Peckinpah
• 1987 Produced, directed and co-wrote The Garbage Pail Kids Movie
• 1988 Wrote the story, The Adventures of Tom Mix and Wyatt Earp in Holywood , on which Blake Edwards based his screenplay for Sunset
• 1989 Last credit (to date) as producer on the NBC TV-movie Swimsuit
• Became stage manager for Lux Radio Theatre
• Began career as staff writer for CBS radio
• Contributed scripts for the ABC series The Fall Guy
• Directed and wrote episodes of Dobie Gillis (CBS)
• Directed episodes of the ABC sitcom The Patty Duke Show
• Helmed episodes of Mr. Ed (syndicated 1960-1961; CBS 1961-1966)
• Helmed episodes of Private Secretary (CBS), starring Ann Sothern
• Produced the NBC variety series The George Burns Show
• Served as a supervising producer (with Hy Averback) for The Dukes of Hazzard (CBS); also directed episodes of the series
• Served as producer and director for NBC series My Mother the Car , starring Jerry Van Dyke
• Was supervising producer (and director) for Enos (CBS), a spin-off from The Dukes of Hazzard
• Worked for 20th Century-Fox as junior writer, then test director, then 2nd unit director