Montgomery Pittman
| Montgomery "Monty" Pittman | |
|---|---|
| Born |
March 1, 1917 Louisiana (parish unknown) |
| Died | June 26, 1962 (aged 45) |
| Cause of death | Cancer |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills, California |
| Residence | Los Angeles, California |
| Occupation | Screenwriter, director, actor |
Montgomery "Monty" Pittman (March 1, 1917 – June 26, 1962) was a television writer, director, and actor. Pittman was born in Louisiana and reared in Arkansas.[1]:138 [2] He left home and joined a carnival as a snake oil salesman.[1]:139 He made his way to New York, hoping for at least a small Broadway role. There he met actor Steve Cochran, who hired him as caretaker of his Los Angeles home around 1950.[1]:139
In Los Angeles he tried to break into acting, but soon turned from acting to screenwriting. He wrote for such television series as ABC/Warner Brothers' 77 Sunset Strip, Sugarfoot, Maverick, Cheyenne, Surfside 6, and Colt .45 and also for NBC's The Deputy, and CBS's The Twilight Zone.
Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., lead star of 77 Sunset Strip, a detective series which aired from 1958 to 1964, recalls that his friend Pittman at forty-five became ill with "a tumor on the side of his neck that grew rapidly to grapefruit-size. He had it excised, but it left a gaping hole, which he covered with a kerchief". The tumor was treated as cancer but did not go into remission, and Pittman soon died. Zimbalist delivered a eulogy at Pittman's funeral. Will Hutchins, another friend of Pittman's whom he attributed to having saved the Sugarfoot series for its two final seasons, was asked to be a pallbearer but declined because as a teenager Hutchins had dropped the casket of a relative and feared he might do so again.[3]
Pittman is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills.[4]
See also
References
- 1 2 3 Zimbalist, Efrem (2003). My Dinner of Herbs. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 138–144. ISBN 9780879109882. Retrieved 2015-02-02.
- ↑ Doubtful; see Talk. The name was probably a pseudonym, and he probably wasn't born in Louisiana or in 1917. There is no Montgomery Pittman in either the 1920 or 1930 census, and no white male Pittmans born in Louisiana in 1917 and living in Arkansas or Oklahoma in 1920 or 1930.
- ↑ "Somewhat Forgotten Figure to Some Extent Remembered: Notes on Television Director, Script Writer, and Occasional Actor Montgomery Pittman". brightlightsfilm.com. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
- ↑ "Montgomery Pittman". findagrave.com. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
- Zicree, Marc Scott: The Twilight Zone Companion. Sillman-James Press, 1989 (third edition)
External links
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