[Deathwatch] Greg Garrison, TV director, 81

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

This one comes from yet another loyal reader and active contributor -
Ed.

Posted on Sat, Apr. 02, 2005

Pioneering TV director Greg Garrison dies

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Greg Garrison, a pioneering TV director who
worked with such stars as Dean Martin, Jack Benny, George Burns and
Lucille Ball in a 40-year career, has died. He was 81.

Garrison died of pneumonia March 25 at his suburban Los Angeles home,
said his wife, Judy.

Garrison directed nearly 4,000 shows in his career, but was probably
best known for his work on "The Dean Martin Show" and Martin's popular
"Celebrity Roasts." He also directed "Your Show of Shows," the
comedy-variety program that starred Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl
Reiner and Howard Morris.

Garrison began his TV career as a "gofer" for WFIL-TV in Philadelphia
shortly after World War II. He got his break when he was brought to New
York by the legendary producer Max Liebman and NBC executive Sylvester
"Pat" Weaver to direct "Your Show of Shows" from 1950 to 1952.

At the same time, Garrison was directing "The Kate Smith Evening Hour,"
a live program that aired five times a week. He also had stints
directing "The Milton Berle Show" and "Ford Television Theatre" in the
1950s, as well as numerous TV specials over the years starring Fred
Astaire, Gene Kelly, Jack Benny, George Burns, Lucille Ball, Phil
Silvers, Bob Newhart and Jonathan Winters.

"Greg was the man who said, `Just go for it; I trust you,'" recalled
Dom DeLuise, who appeared frequently on "The Dean Martin Show," which
Garrison directed from 1965 to 1974.

When he directed such stars as Orson Welles, Frank Sinatra and Ella
Fitzgerald on the "Celebrity Roasts," DeLuise said, Garrison always had
their respect. If he wanted their attention, he would whistle into a
microphone and say, "One voice - mine."

"Everybody would stop - nobody moved. You just listened as he told you
what the plan was, and it was great. DeLuise recalled. "I'm sure he's
directing all the angels in heaven, saying, `One voice - mine.'"

Garrison also directed one of television's landmark 1960 presidential
debates between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.

Garrison was born in Brooklyn and dropped out of high school before
flying combat missions with the Army Air Force during World War II. He
spent time in a German prisoner-of-war camp.

One of his earliest directing jobs was the 1949 police drama "Stand by
for Crime," starring a young actor named Myron Wallace who would later
become better known as "60 Minutes" correspondent Mike Wallace.

Garrison was nominated for more than a dozen Emmys, although he never
won.

He modestly attributed his success to getting into television in its
infancy.

"In those days," he once wrote, "if you had two weeks' experience in
television, you were considered a genius, because nobody knew anything
about it."

He is survived by his wife and two children from a previous marriage.