George Schlatter

George H. Schlatter (born December 31, 1932 in Birmingham) is a television producer and director, best known for Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, several Grammy Awards shows, and numerous television specials. He was also the founder of the American Comedy Awards and owner of The Editing Company.

Schaltter was the son of a salesman and a violinist. He was born in Birmingham but raised in St Louis, Missouri where he competed as a wrestler and trained as an operatic singer.

Schlatter attended Pepperdine University in Los Angeles, California and began his career as a band and act manager for MCA Records. From there he was hired as talent manager for Ciro's night club on Sunset Strip where Dan Rowan and Dick Martin frequently performed.

After moving briefly to Las Vegas, Nevada, to stage floor shows for the Frontier Hotel, Schlatter returned to Hollywood and took a job with NBC, booking talent for producer Hal Kemp. In 1963 he departed for CBS and was hired to oversee the weekly Judy Garland Show. He was replaced by Norman Jewison after five episodes.

Soon Schlatter was tapped to oversee the television broadcast of the Grammy Awards, dubbed "The Best on Record", from 1964 to 1970. In 1968 he founded George Schlatter Productions and created the hit comedy series Rowan and Martin's Laugh In for NBC with writer Digby Wolfe.

Through the early 2000s, Schlatter continued to produce and direct television specials and series, including the magazine show "Real People." He launched the American Comedy Awards in 1987 and continued producing it through 2001. He also produced as a few feature films. He was nominated for 25 Emmy Awards and won five times. His Emmy-winning programs included "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" in 1968, "Sammy Davis Jr: 60th Anniversary Celebration" in 1990 and "Sinatra: 80 Years My Way" in 1995. Schlatter was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1989.

Schlatter and his wife, Jolene Brand, have two daughters, Andrea and Maria.

References

• Erickson, Hal (2000) "From Beautiful Downtown Burbank": A Critical History of Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, 1968-1973 Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 9780786440498
• "George Schlatter" (April 29, 2015) Wikipedia - accessed February 23, 2016

External links

• George Schlatter at IMDB.com