Alex Gottlieb(1906-1988)
- Producer
- Writer
- Actor
Screenwriter/producer Alex Gottlieb got into show business writing gags
and scripts for such radio stars as Al Jolson
and Eddie Cantor. He went to work for
Universal Pictures as a writer, mostly of "B" westerns and action
pictures. He let it be known that he wanted to become a producer, and
in 1941 Universal execs called him in and told him that they were
giving him a chance to produce the debut film of a new comedy duo the
studio was grooming for stardom--Bud Abbott
and Lou Costello. He took the job
and the result was
Deux nigauds soldats (1941), which turned
out to be one of the studio's biggest hits of the year, raking in more
than $4 million on a $180,000 budget. Gottlieb produced nine of the
team's films altogether, the last being
Les joyeux pirates (1952)
in 1952. He was also a producer on several episodes of their TV series,
The Abbott and Costello Show (1952),
and soon got into TV in a big way, writing and producing such series as
The Gale Storm Show: Oh! Susanna (1956),
Dear Phoebe (1954) and
Sugarfoot (1957), among others.
He died in Los Angeles at age 81 on 10/9/1988.
He died in Los Angeles at age 81 on 10/9/1988.
