Jack Laird (born Jack Laird Schultheis; May 8, 1923 â€" December 3,
1991) was an American screenwriter, producer, director, and actor. He
received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his works in Ben
Casey, Night Gallery, and Kojak.Laird was born on May 8, 1923 in
Monrovia, California to Leonard Schultheis, a businessman, and Thelma
Laird, a Theater Director who taught night school dramatics, and from
whom Laird took classes, in his high school years he was art editor of
the school newspaper, while a student at Pasadena Junior College,
Laird formed his dance band "Aris Laird and his ARIStocrats of Swing",
the group was made up of players who later joined the likes of Stan
Kenton, Benny Goodman, and Les Brown, the band broke up when Laird
enlisted in the Army Air Force during World War II, he was assigned as
a pilot in the Ninth Air Force, he served with the First Allied
Airborne while stationed in Manchester, England.Laird entered the
entertainment industry at a young age. One of his first appearances as
a child actor was in an unbilled bit part in the 1934 film The Circus
Clown. After his discharge from the army, Laird resumed civilian life
in New York, where he enrolled at the Dramatic Workshop and studied
playwriting under John Gassner, he returned to Hollywood for a screen
test and ultimately starred in a series of movie and radio roles, but
eventually moved into writing and producing, he began writing for
various television shows, such as The Lone Ranger, The Millionaire, M
Squad, Private Secretary, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Ford Theatre, The
Wild Wild West, The Ann Sothern Show, Mr. District Attorney, and Have
Gun â€" Will Travel. Laird distinguished himself as a writer and story
editor on the medical show Ben Casey, eventually becoming an associate
producer, he would receive an Emmy nomination in 1962 for his work on
the Episode "I Remember a Lemon Tree", he then went on to write and
produce independent projects for Universal Studios. In the 1970s,
Laird came into his own as a producer, working on such shows as The
Psychiatrist, Night Gallery, Kojak, and many more.One of Laird's
favorite actors was Leslie Nielsen with whom he made several
made-for-TV movies, including 1964's See How They Run, the first
feature in that genre, Code Name: Heraclitus, Dark Intruder, The
Return of Charlie Chan and numerous TV episodes. Nielsen also starred
in a series produced by Laird was evidently an admirer of horror
writer H.P. Lovecraft. He based at least two episodes of Night Gallery
on Lovecraft's work - "Pickman's Model" (based directly on the
Lovecraft story of the same title Pickman's Model) and "Professor
Peabody's Last Lecture". The dialogue of the 1965 horror movie Dark
Intruder, produced by Laird, includes some references to alien beings
invented by Lovecraft, tying the film to Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.
In an early scene where Brett Kingsford meets with the police
commissioner, opines that "gods older than the human race...deities
like Dagon and Azathoth still have worshippers." He was also an avid
film collector and jazz fan.
1991) was an American screenwriter, producer, director, and actor. He
received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his works in Ben
Casey, Night Gallery, and Kojak.Laird was born on May 8, 1923 in
Monrovia, California to Leonard Schultheis, a businessman, and Thelma
Laird, a Theater Director who taught night school dramatics, and from
whom Laird took classes, in his high school years he was art editor of
the school newspaper, while a student at Pasadena Junior College,
Laird formed his dance band "Aris Laird and his ARIStocrats of Swing",
the group was made up of players who later joined the likes of Stan
Kenton, Benny Goodman, and Les Brown, the band broke up when Laird
enlisted in the Army Air Force during World War II, he was assigned as
a pilot in the Ninth Air Force, he served with the First Allied
Airborne while stationed in Manchester, England.Laird entered the
entertainment industry at a young age. One of his first appearances as
a child actor was in an unbilled bit part in the 1934 film The Circus
Clown. After his discharge from the army, Laird resumed civilian life
in New York, where he enrolled at the Dramatic Workshop and studied
playwriting under John Gassner, he returned to Hollywood for a screen
test and ultimately starred in a series of movie and radio roles, but
eventually moved into writing and producing, he began writing for
various television shows, such as The Lone Ranger, The Millionaire, M
Squad, Private Secretary, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Ford Theatre, The
Wild Wild West, The Ann Sothern Show, Mr. District Attorney, and Have
Gun â€" Will Travel. Laird distinguished himself as a writer and story
editor on the medical show Ben Casey, eventually becoming an associate
producer, he would receive an Emmy nomination in 1962 for his work on
the Episode "I Remember a Lemon Tree", he then went on to write and
produce independent projects for Universal Studios. In the 1970s,
Laird came into his own as a producer, working on such shows as The
Psychiatrist, Night Gallery, Kojak, and many more.One of Laird's
favorite actors was Leslie Nielsen with whom he made several
made-for-TV movies, including 1964's See How They Run, the first
feature in that genre, Code Name: Heraclitus, Dark Intruder, The
Return of Charlie Chan and numerous TV episodes. Nielsen also starred
in a series produced by Laird was evidently an admirer of horror
writer H.P. Lovecraft. He based at least two episodes of Night Gallery
on Lovecraft's work - "Pickman's Model" (based directly on the
Lovecraft story of the same title Pickman's Model) and "Professor
Peabody's Last Lecture". The dialogue of the 1965 horror movie Dark
Intruder, produced by Laird, includes some references to alien beings
invented by Lovecraft, tying the film to Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.
In an early scene where Brett Kingsford meets with the police
commissioner, opines that "gods older than the human race...deities
like Dagon and Azathoth still have worshippers." He was also an avid
film collector and jazz fan.
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