Allan Burns: Difference between revisions

'''Allan Burns''' (May 18, 1935{{spnd}}January 30, 2021) was an American [[screenwriter]] and [[television producer]]. He was best known for creating and writing for the television [[sitcom]] ''[[The Munsters]]'' as well as ''[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]'' and ''[[Rhoda]]'', both of which he created and wrote for alongside [[James L. Brooks]].

Burns was born in [[Baltimore]] on May 18, 1935.<ref name=Haring>{{cite news|title=Allan Burns Dies: Co-Creator Of 'The Munsters' And 'Mary Tyler Moore Show' Was 85|url=https://deadline.com/2021/01/allan-burns-dies-the-munters-mary-tyler-moore-rhoda-obituary-1234684359/|first=Bruce|last=Haring|date=January 31, 2021|accessdate=January 31, 2021|magazine=Deadline Hollywood}}</ref><ref name=Shafer>{{cite news|title=Allan Burns, Emmy-Winning Writer and Creator of ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show,’ Dies at 85|url=https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/allan-burns-dead-dies-writer-creator-mary-tyler-moore-show-1234896855/|first=Ellise|last=Shafer|date=January 31, 2021|accessdate=January 31, 2021|magazine=Variety}}</ref> His father died when he was nine years old. Three years later, he moved to [[Honolulu]] with his mother after his older brother was assigned to [[Naval Station Pearl Harbor]]. He attended [[Punahou School]] and illustrated a cartoon that featured several times a week in the ''[[Honolulu Star-Bulletin]]''.<ref name=Barnes>{{cite news|title=Allan Burns, Co-Creator of 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show,' Dies at 85|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/allan-burns-dead-mary-tyler-moore-show-lou-grant-my-mother-car-creator-was-85-1122683|first=Mike|last=Barnes|date=January 31, 2021|accessdate=January 31, 2021|magazine=The Hollywood Reporter}}</ref> He studied architecture at the [[University of Oregon]] starting in 1953,<ref name=Haring/><ref name=Shafer/> after being awarded a partial [[scholarship]]. However, he dropped out two years later and moved to Los Angeles, where he secured a job as a page for [[NBC]].<ref name=Barnes/>

After his stint writing for Jay Ward, Burns formed a partnership with [[Chris Hayward]]. They created the series ''[[The Munsters]]'' (1964) and ''[[My Mother the Car]]'' (1965), and were later hired by producer [[Leonard B. Stern|Leonard Stern]] as story editors for the [[CBS]] series ''[[He & She]]'', for which they won an Emmy award for comedy writing.<ref name=Haring/> The last project between Hayward and Burns would be as story editors for the sitcom ''[[Get Smart]]''.<ref name=Haring/> During this time, Burns also co-wrote the unaired version of the 1965 pilot episode of ''[[The Smothers Brothers Show]]''.<ref name=Haring/>

Burns began a partnership with [[James L. Brooks]] in 1969 after being impressed with the [[television pilot]] for Brooks's show ''[[Room 222]]''. Burns joined the ''Room 222'' writing staff and later produced the series.<ref name=Haring/>

After ''Room 222'', television executive [[Grant Tinker]] hired Brooks and Burns to develop a television series for CBS starring [[Mary Tyler Moore]].<ref name=Haring/> In 1970, ''[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]'' premiered and became a critically acclaimed series, spawning spin-off series such as ''[[Lou Grant (TV series)|Lou Grant]]'' and ''[[Rhoda]]''.<ref name = Shafer/> Brooks and Burns also created the 1974 situation comedy ''[[Friends and Lovers (TV series)|Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers]]''.<ref>{{cite news|title=Some Laughs in Big Package Producer|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/412053581/|page=36|date=July 30, 1974|accessdate=January 31, 2021|newspaper=Dayton Daily News}}</ref> Burns also worked as a writer and producer on the shows ''[[FM (U.S. TV series)|FM]]'',<ref name=Shafer/> ''[[The Duck Factory]]'',<ref>{{cite news|title=Absolutely Ducky!Madness &|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1984/04/12/absolutely-duckymadness-38/501547e0-6565-40d5-ac7b-dc21a1af1ea6/|first=Tom|last=Shales|date=April 12, 1984|accessdate=January 31, 2021|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last=Ross|first=Val|date=April 9, 1984|title=A chameleon comic adapts to successs|url=https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1984/4/9/a-chameleon-comic-adapts-to-success|magazine=Maclean's|location=Toronto|access-date=January 31, 2021}}</ref> ''[[Eisenhower and Lutz]]'', and ''[[Cutters (TV series)|Cutters]]''.<ref name=Shafer/>

Burns married Joan Bailey in 1964; the couple had two children: Eric and Matthew.<ref name=museum>{{cite web|title=Burns, Allan |work=[[Museum of Broadcast Communications]] |url=http://www.museum.tv/eotv/burnsallan.htm |access-date=February 27, 2017 |author=Alley, Robert S. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170128224340/http://www.museum.tv/eotv/burnsallan.htm |archive-date=January 28, 2017 }}</ref>

=== Primetime Emmy Awards ===