Greg Garrison

In his four-hour interview, Greg Garrison (1924-2005) talks about working in television in 1947 at the ABC affiliate WFIL in Philadelphia. He describes his eventual move to Chicago to produce and direct television shows, including, Stand by for Crime (with Mike Wallace) and Super Circus. He describes the rigors of working in live television in the 1950s, and coming up through the ranks to eventually become a producer and director for national television programs. He speaks about his move to New York City in 1950, where he worked at NBC as a producer/director of numerous variety shows and specials including Texaco Star Theater, The Danny Kaye Special, and Astaire Time. Garrison recalls in detail producing The Dean Martin Show where he formed a relationship with Dean Martin that would last until Martin's death. He details working with several other luminaries including Orson Welles, Bob Newhart, Frank Sinatra, Dom DeLuise, Milton Berle, and Ronald Reagan. Henry Colman conducted the interview on October 8, 1998 at Garrison's home in Thousand Oaks, CA.