"Make Room For Daddy" and "My World and Welcome To It" Creator Melville Shavelson Has Died— Archive Interview Online

Mel Shavelson, who wrote for such comedians as Bob Hope and Danny Kaye, has died at the age of 90. He created the classic sitcom Make Room for Daddy, starring Danny Thomas. He also wrote and directed for the movies and is a two-time Oscar nominee (for The Seven Little Foys and Houseboat [for original screenplay, shared with partner Jack Rose]). He was also a former President of the Writers Guild of America, west and most currently served on the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation's Board of Directors.

This year, on his 90th birthday, Mr. Shavelson published an autobiography: "How To Succeeed in Hollywood Without Really Trying: P.S. - You Can't"

Click here to access his entire four-and-a-half hour interview.

Interview description:
Mel Shavelson was interviewed for four-and-a-half hours in Los Angeles, CA. Mr. Shavelson talked about starting out as a press agent with Milt Josefsberg in 1938. He moved to Los Angeles the following year, with Mr. Josefsberg, to write for the radio show "The Pepsodent Bob Hope Show." In 1947, he wrote for the first commercial television program ever broadcast west of the Mississippi, for Paramount's experimental station W6XYZ that became KTLA. In 1953, he created the sitcom Make Room For Daddy. Mr. Shavelson also discussed the critically acclaimed series My World and Welcome To It, which he also created. He also talked about the Writers Guild of America, for which he served as president. He spoke about writing and directing the following television movies: The Legend of Valentino, The Great Houdini, and Ike. The interview was conducted by Karen Herman on April 6, 1999.