Bruce Geller
Bruce Bernard Geller (October 13, 1930 – May 21, 1978) was an American lyricist, screenwriter, director, and television producer.
Early life and education
Geller was born in New York City, the son of Dorothy (Friedlander) and General Sessions Judge Abraham N. Geller.[3] Geller graduated from Yale University in 1952, where he had studied psychology and sociology and was involved in many activities including theater.[1]
Career
He pursued a career writing scripts for shows on the DuMont Television Network including Jimmy Hughes, Rookie Cop (1953) and others. He also wrote the book and lyrics for musical theatre productions including Livin' the Life (1957) and All in Love (1961), but his efforts met with only modest success. Geller left New York for Los Angeles, where he was employed writing scripts for episodes of several television series, including Zane Grey Theater, Have Gun – Will Travel, The Rebel, and The Rifleman. He also worked as the co-executive producer of the Rawhide series for the 1964-1965 television season.
While producing Rawhide, he developed the idea for a new "cloak-and-dagger" series, Mission: Impossible.[1] In 1966, Geller created, wrote, produced, and directed Mission: Impossible, the accomplishment for which he is best remembered. The show ran on CBS from 1966 to 1973 and earned him an Emmy Award in 1966 as producer plus another for Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama. During the early seasons, a photograph of Geller was included in the dossier of Impossible Missions Force (IMF) agents that IMF leaders Briggs and Phelps perused each week and was often visible on screen (such as in the episodes "Memory", "Operation Rogosh" and "Operation - Heart"). The series was revived in 1988 and aired until 1990 on ABC.
Geller also wrote, produced, and directed for the series Mannix (1967–1975), which was twice nominated for an Emmy Award. In 1973, he made his only venture into feature films, producing and directing Harry in Your Pocket starring James Coburn and Walter Pidgeon.
Death
A flying enthusiast, Bruce Geller died when the Cessna Skymaster he was piloting ran into fog and crashed into Buena Vista Canyon near Santa Barbara, California.[4] He is interred in Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Accolades
Year | Association | Category | Work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1961 | Writers Guild of America Awards | Anthology Drama, 30 Minutes in Length | The DuPont Show with June Allyson: "The Trench Coat" | Nominated |
1962 | Episodic Drama | The Westerner: "Brown" | Nominated | |
1964 | Anthology, Any Length | The Dick Powell Show: "The Judge" | Nominated | |
1965 | Bronze Wrangler | Fictional Television Drama | Rawhide: "Corporal Dasovic" | Won |
1967 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Dramatic Series | Mission: Impossible | Won |
Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama | Won | |||
1969 | Outstanding Dramatic Series | Nominated | ||
Writers Guild of America Awards | Episodic Drama | Mannix: "The Name is Mannix" | Nominated | |
1972 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Drama Series | Mannix | Nominated |
1973 | Nominated |
References
- ^ a b c "Finding Aid for the Bruce Geller Papers, 1957-1976", UCLA Performing Arts Special Collection/Online Archive of California (California Digital Library)
- ^ "Jeanette Geller - Obituary". legacy.com. Retrieved Oct 13, 2020.
- ^ Pace, Eric (May 23, 1978). "Bruce Geller and Stephen Gentry, TV Executives, Die in Plane Crash (Published 1978)". The New York Times. Retrieved Oct 13, 2020.
- ^ "LAX78FA048". www.ntsb.gov. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
External links
- Bruce Geller at IMDb
- v
- t
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- Reginald Rose for Twelve Angry Men (1955)
- Rod Serling for The Twilight Zone (1960)
- Rod Serling for The Twilight Zone (1961)
- Reginald Rose for The Defenders (1962)
- Robert Thom & Reginald Rose for "The Madman" (1963)
- Ernest Kinoy for "Blacklist" / Rod Serling for "It's Mental Work" (1964)
- David Karp for "The 700 Year Old Gang" (1965)
- Millard Lampell for "Eagle in a Cage" (1966)
- Bruce Geller for "Mission: Impossible" (1967)
- Loring Mandel for "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" (1968)
- JP Miller for "The People Next Door" (1969)
- Richard Levinson & William Link for "My Sweet Charlie" (1970)
- Joel Oliansky for "To Taste of Death But Once" (1971)
- Richard Levinson & William Link for "Death Lends a Hand" (1972)
- John McGreevey for "The Scholar" (1973)
- Joanna Lee for "The Thanksgiving Story" (1974)
- Howard Fast for "Benjamin Franklin: The Ambassador" (1975)
- Sherman Yellen for "John Adams: Lawyer" (1976)
- William Blinn & Ernest Kinoy for "Show #2" (1977)
- Gerald Green for "Holocaust" (1978)
- Michele Gallery for "Dying" (1979)
- Seth Freeman for "Cop" (1980)
- Michael Kozoll & Steven Bochco for "Hill Street Station" (1981)
- Steven Bochco & Michael Kozoll & Jeff Lewis & Michael Wagner & Anthony Yerkovich for "Freedom's Last Stand" (1982)
- David Milch for "Trial by Fury" (1983)
- John Ford Noonan, John Masius & Tom Fontana for "The Women" (1984)
- Patricia Green for "Who Said It's Fair, Part 2" (1985)
- Tom Fontana, John Masius & Joe Tinker for "Time Heals, Parts I & II" (1986)
- Steven Bochco & Terry Louise Fisher for "The Venus Butterfly" (1987)
- Paul Haggis & Marshall Herskovitz for "Business as Usual" (1988)
- Joseph Dougherty for "First Day/Last Day" (1989)
- David E. Kelley for "Blood, Sweat, and Fears" (1990)
- David E. Kelley for "On the Toad Again" (1991)
- Diane Frolov & Andrew Schneider for "Seoul Mates" (1992)
- Tom Fontana for "Three Men and Adena" (1993)
- Ann Biderman for "Steroid Roy" (1994)
- Lance A. Gentile for "Love's Labor Lost" (1995)
- Darin Morgan for "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" (1996)
- David Milch, Stephen Gaghan and Michael R. Perry for "Where's Swaldo?" (1997)
- David Milch, Nicholas Wootton and Bill Clark for "Lost Israel: Part II" (1998)
- James Manos Jr. and David Chase for "College" (1999)
- Rick Cleveland & Aaron Sorkin for "In Excelsis Deo" (2000)
- Mitchell Burgess & Robin Green for "Employee of the Month" (2001)
- Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran for "12:00 a.m. – 1:00 a.m." (2002)
- Mitchell Burgess & David Chase & Robin Green for "Whitecaps" (2003)
- Terence Winter for "Long Term Parking" (2004)
- David Shore for "Three Stories" (2005)
- Terence Winter for "Members Only" (2006)
- David Chase for "Made in America" (2007)
- Matthew Weiner for "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" (2008)
- Kater Gordon & Matthew Weiner for "Meditations in an Emergency" (2009)
- Erin Levy & Matthew Weiner for "Shut the Door. Have a Seat." (2010)
- Jason Katims for "Always" (2011)
- Alex Gansa & Howard Gordon & Gideon Raff for "Pilot" (Homeland) (2012)
- Henry Bromell for "Q&A" (2013)
- Moira Walley-Beckett for "Ozymandias" (2014)
- David Benioff & D. B. Weiss for "Mother's Mercy" (2015)
- David Benioff & D. B. Weiss for "Battle of the Bastards" (2016)
- Bruce Miller for "Offred" (2017)
- Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg for "START" (2018)
- Jesse Armstrong for "Nobody Is Ever Missing" (2019)
- Jesse Armstrong for "This Is Not for Tears" (2020)
- Peter Morgan for "War" (2021)
- Jesse Armstrong for "All the Bells Say" (2022)
- Jesse Armstrong for "Connor's Wedding" (2023)