Hal Kanter (December 18, 1918; Savannah, Georgia – November 6, 2011; Encino, California) was a writer, producer and director, principally for comedy actors such as Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, and Elvis Presley (in Loving You and Blue Hawaii), for both feature films and television. Kanter helped Tennessee Williams turn the play by Williams into the film version of The Rose Tattoo. Since 1991, he was regularly credited as a writer for the Academy Award broadcasts. Kanter was also the creator and executive producer of the television series JuliaKanter was famous for saying, "Radio is theater of the mind; TV is theater of the mindless."Kanter started his career peddling jokes to Eddie Cantor for his radio program. Kanter recalls, "I'd listen to his show and say, 'I can write jokes as funny as that,' so I walked from my rooming house to his show, and told the guard, 'Mr. Kanter is here to see Mr. Cantor, figuring he'd see me because of our names, although his real name was Iskowitch. I was seventeen years old and had the nerve of a burglar." Although Kanter was not hired by Cantor, one of his writers, Hugh Wedlock, Jr., paid Kanter $10 per week to write jokes. Wedlock would then resell Kanter's jokes to Cantor. Kanter stated, "So I became a ghostwriter to a ghostwriter."Kanter died at his home in Encino, California on November 6, 2011, aged 92.
Profiled in "The Laugh Crafters: Comedy Writing in Radio and TV's Golden Age" by Jordan Young (BearManor Media).
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Son of Albert L. Kanter, who founded the successful "Classic Comics" (later "Classics Illustrated") series in 1941. Through Hal's Hollywood connections, "Classics Illustrated" obtained comic-book rights to The Ten Commandments (1956) and The Buccaneer (1958).
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
The 80th Annual Academy Awards
2008
TV Special
The 77th Annual Academy Awards
2005
TV Special written by
The 76th Annual Academy Awards
2004
TV Special written by
The 75th Annual Academy Awards
2003
TV Special written by
Tyrants in Therapy
2002
TV Series 1 episode
The 70th Annual Academy Awards
1998
TV Special
The 69th Annual Academy Awards
1997
TV Special
The 67th Annual Academy Awards
1995
TV Special
The 66th Annual Academy Awards
1994
TV Special
The 65th Annual Academy Awards
1993
TV Special
Oscar's Greatest Moments
1992
Video documentary written by
The 64th Annual Academy Awards
1992
TV Special written by
The 63rd Annual Academy Awards
1991
TV Special
Qi ji
1989
1961 screenplay "A Pocketful of Miracles"
The 55th Annual Academy Awards
1983
TV Special
The 54th Annual Academy Awards
1982
TV Special documentary
Beyond Witch Mountain
1982
TV Movie teleplay by
The 53rd Annual Academy Awards
1981
TV Special written by
Lucy Moves to NBC
1980
TV Movie
NBC Salutes the 25th Anniversary of the Wonderful World of Disney
1978
TV Movie documentary writing supervised by / written by
AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Henry Fonda
1978
TV Special documentary
Chico and the Man
1976
TV Series written by - 4 episodes
The 48th Annual Academy Awards
1976
TV Special
The Good Old Days of Radio
1976
TV Movie documentary
Joys
1976
TV Special
All in the Family
1975
TV Series written by - 2 episodes
The Jimmy Stewart Show
TV Series created by - 24 episodes, 1971 - 1972 written by - 12 episodes, 1971 - 1972 writer - 1 episode, 1972 teleplay - 1 episode, 1971 story - 1 episode, 1971
Julia
TV Series created by - 86 episodes, 1968 - 1971 written by - 23 episodes, 1968 - 1971 teleplay - 1 episode, 1969
Three Coins in the Fountain
1970
TV Movie
The 42nd Annual Academy Awards
1970
TV Special
The 40th Annual Academy Awards
1968
TV Special
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1966
TV Series writer - 1 episode
Vacation Playhouse
TV Series writer - 2 episodes, 1965 creator - 1 episode, 1965
Sally and Sam
1965
TV Short
Valentine's Day
TV Series created by - 33 episodes, 1964 - 1965 written by - 11 episodes, 1964 - 1965 creator - 1 episode, 1964
Dear Brigitte
1965
Move Over, Darling
1963
screenplay
Arthur Godfrey in Hollywood
1962
TV Movie
Pocketful of Miracles
1961
screenplay
Blue Hawaii
1961
The Danny Kaye Special
1961
TV Special written by
Bachelor in Paradise
1961
screenplay
An Hour with Danny Kaye
1960
TV Movie writer
Let's Make Love
1960
additional material
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959
TV Series 1 episode
The Milton Berle Show
TV Series 3 episodes, 1958 - 1959 written by - 1 episode, 1958
Mardi Gras
1958
writer
Once Upon a Horse...
1958
writer
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
1957
TV Series 1 episode
Loving You
1957
screenplay
The George Gobel Show
TV Series writer - 31 episodes, 1954 - 1956 written by - 1 episode, 1954
The Rose Tattoo
1955
adaptation
Artists and Models
1955
screenplay
The Dinah Shore Show
1954
TV Series writer - 1 episode
Shower of Stars
1954
TV Series 1 episode
About Mrs. Leslie
1954
Casanova's Big Night
1954
written for the screen by
Money from Home
1953
adaptation / screenplay
Here Come the Girls
1953
writer
Off Limits
1952
screenplay / story
Road to Bali
1952
screenplay
My Favorite Spy
1951
additional dialogue
Two Tickets to Broadway
1951
screenplay
The Amos 'n Andy Show
1951
TV Series
The Ed Wynn Show
TV Series written by - 5 episodes, 1949 - 1950 writer - 3 episodes, 1949
Producer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Lucy Moves to NBC
1980
TV Movie producer
What's Up Doc
1978
TV Series producer - 1978
Joys
1976
TV Special producer
All in the Family
1975
TV Series executive producer - 6 episodes
Chico and the Man
1974
TV Series producer
The Jimmy Stewart Show
1971-1972
TV Series producer - 24 episodes
Julia
TV Series producer - 73 episodes, 1968 - 1970 executive producer - 13 episodes, 1970 - 1971
Three Coins in the Fountain
1970
TV Movie executive producer
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1967
TV Series producer - 1 episode
Vacation Playhouse
TV Series producer - 2 episodes, 1965 executive producer - 1 episode, 1965
Valentine's Day
TV Series executive producer - 15 episodes, 1964 - 1965 producer - 2 episodes, 1964 - 1965