Norman Abbott

Norman Abbott

Directing

Biography

Norman Abbott (July 11, 1922 – July 9, 2016) was an American vaudevillian, actor, producer and television director. Abbott was born in New York City, where his uncle, comedian Bud Abbott, and his mother raised him. His early experience in entertainment was as a vaudeville performer, including summers working the 'borscht circuit" in resorts in the Catskill Mountains of New York. In the early 1940s, he and Pat Costello (brother of Lou Costello) worked as stand-ins for the better-known act during filming of Who Done It? (1942).[3] During World War II, Abbott served as a member of the original United States Navy SEALs team. After the war, Abbott became a dialog director on the Abbott and Costello films and was mentored by the team's director, Charles T. Barton. Abbott later directed episodes of The Jack Benny Program, Leave It to Beaver, Get Smart, The Munsters, Welcome Back, Kotter, Dennis the Menace, and Sanford and Son. Abbott's obituary in The Hollywood Reporter described him as "the brainchild behind the Broadway sensation Sugar Babies, the comeback vehicle for Mickey Rooney in the late 1970s". He conceived the idea of a Broadway musical based on burlesque after inheriting his uncle's "treasure trove of burlesque material, including written gags, props, music and posters".[4] Despite his having originated the concept, Abbott was fired as director of the show after two weeks of rehearsing.

Filmography Movies

Acting

Walking My Baby Back Home movie poster

Walking My Baby Back Home

A young man from a wealthy New York family pursues a career as the leader of a dance band.

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Walking My Baby Back Home

Empire of the CensorsMOVIE

Empire of the Censors

The history of film and video censorship in Great Britain.

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Empire of the Censors

Keep 'Em Slugging movie poster

Keep 'Em Slugging

A gang of tough street kids decide to go straight and get jobs in order to free draft-age men for the war effort. However, because of their past tangles with the law, they can't find anybody who'll hire them. Finally one of them gets a job at the department store where his sister works, but runs afoul of a store executive who is in league with a ring of hijackers.

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Keep 'Em Slugging

The Affairs of Martha movie poster

The Affairs of Martha

Members of a well-to-do small community become worried when it is revealed that one of their maids is writing a telling exposé.

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The Affairs of Martha

Newsboy (uncredited)

Grand Central Murder movie poster

Grand Central Murder

Conniving Broadway starlet Mida King has plenty of enemies, so when she's found murdered at Grand Central Station, Inspector Gunther calls together a slew of suspects for questioning. Mida's shady ex-flame, Turk, seems the most likely culprit, but when smart-mouthed private eye Rocky Custer -- also a suspect himself -- begins to piece together the crime, a few clues that Gunther has overlooked come to light.

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Grand Central Murder

Whistling Messenger (uncredited)

Rio Rita movie poster

Rio Rita

Doc and Wishey run into some Nazi-agents, who want to smuggle bombs into the USA from a Mexican border hotel.

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Hotel Laundry Boy (uncredited)

Who Done It? movie poster

Who Done It?

Two dumb soda jerks dream of writing radio mysteries. When they try to pitch an idea at a radio station, they end up in the middle of a real murder when the station owner is killed during a broadcast.

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'Murder at Midnight' Organist

Anything Goes movie poster

Anything Goes

On an ocean liner, a nightclub singer tries to help a fellow American romance an English heiress who is being forced to return home to marry a man she doesn't love. The American must avoid his boss who is traveling on the same vessel and disguises himself as a gangster traveling with a minister who is, in fact, a disguised gangster on the lam.

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Radio Announcer

Production

The Last of the Secret Agents? movie poster

The Last of the Secret Agents?

Marty and Steve, American tourists in France, are given a multipurpose umbrella and pitted against an international band of art thieves. Among the stolen treasures is the Statue Of Liberty.

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The Last of the Secret Agents?

The Last of the Secret Agents? movie poster

The Last of the Secret Agents?

Marty and Steve, American tourists in France, are given a multipurpose umbrella and pitted against an international band of art thieves. Among the stolen treasures is the Statue Of Liberty.

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The Last of the Secret Agents?

The Last of the Secret Agents? movie poster

The Last of the Secret Agents?

Marty and Steve, American tourists in France, are given a multipurpose umbrella and pitted against an international band of art thieves. Among the stolen treasures is the Statue Of Liberty.

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The Last of the Secret Agents?

The All-Star Christmas Show movie poster

The All-Star Christmas Show

This 1958 Christmas spectacular was produced by the USO for the entertainment of troops stationed overseas. Over 50 top names from stage, screen and television appear in this truly all-star concert film - a magical evening of music, comedy and fun. Feeaturing Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, George Burns, Milton Berle, Jack Benny, Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Danny Kaye, Dinah Shore, Shirley MacLaine, Jimmy Durante, Jimmy Stewart, Danny Thomas, Anna Maria Alberghetti, June Allyson, Ray Bolger, Red Buttons, Sid Caesar, Marge & Gower Champion, Cyd Charisse, Van Cliburn, Leo Durocher, Rhonda Fleming, Benny Goodman, Eydie Gormé, Betty Hutton, Frankie Lane, Tony Martin, David Niven, Kim Novak, Gregory Peck, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell, Jane Powell, Martha Raye, Jimmie Rogers, Jane Russell, Dick Shawn, Jo Stafford, Gale Storm and Miyoshi Umeki.

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The All-Star Christmas Show

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein movie poster

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein

The Wolf Man tries to warn a dimwitted porter that Dracula wants his brain for Frankenstein monster's body.

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Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein

Father Knows Best: Home for Christmas movie poster

Father Knows Best: Home for Christmas

The original cast of "Father Knows Best" returns for the second reunion movie. After learning that none of the children will be home for Christmas, Jim and Margaret decide to sell their house.

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Father Knows Best: Home for Christmas

Jack Benny's BagMOVIE

Jack Benny's Bag

Jack Benny's 1968 TV specials features topical references including a parody of The Graduate.

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Jack Benny's Bag

A Love Letter to Jack Benny movie poster

A Love Letter to Jack Benny

Love Letter to Jack Benny" is a wonderfully warm-hearted tribute to the late comic genius. Hosted by three men who knew Jack well (including his best friend, George Burns), they introduce a raft of rare clips from his later programs in the 60's.

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A Love Letter to Jack Benny

NBC: The First Fifty Years movie poster

NBC: The First Fifty Years

A celebration of 50 years of NBC broadcasting in radio and television, since first going on the airwaves on 15 November 1926.

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NBC: The First Fifty Years

Creative Consultant

Once Upon a Tour movie poster

Once Upon a Tour

Dora Hall, the "queen of vanity records," hops a bus to Los Angeles for a tour of Television Land. A musical variety show featuring Rich Little, Phil Harris, Frank Sinatra, Jr., Oliver, Ben Blue, and Rosey Grier.

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Once Upon a Tour

Gallery

Norman Abbott portrait

Norman Abbott | Actor & Filmography | WatchedThis | WatchedThis - Movie & TV Discovery