Frederick de Cordova
Encyclopedia
Frederick "Fred" Timmins de Cordova (October 27, 1910 - September 15, 2001) was an American stage, motion picture and television director and producer. He is best known for his work on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
.
Timmins) and George de Cordova, who worked in the theatre business. In his 1988 autobiography, de Cordova described his parents as con artists who, during his early years, lived well and skipped town without paying. He received an undergraduate degree in liberal arts
in 1931 from Northwestern University
.
in 1933, he gained employment in the Shubert Theater
organization and directed stage shows for the next ten years. He was variously a performer, stage manager, stage director, and finally dialogue director, the last in "Ziegfeld Follies of 1943".
He was a dialogue director in five films, including To Have and Have Not
(1944). His first film directing job was “Too Young To Know" (1945) for Warner Brothers. He directed 23 movies. One of the better known was Bedtime for Bonzo
(1951) starring a chimpanzee and future President Ronald Reagan
. He also directed Rock Hudson
, Errol Flynn
, Tony Curtis
, Audie Murphy
, Yvonne de Carlo
, Bob Hope
and Humphrey Bogart
. Much of his career was at Universal Studios
, where he was known for turning out entertaining pictures quickly, even with difficult actors, and on a low budget. His last film was Frankie and Johnny
(1966) with Elvis Presley
.
He turned to directing television when there was less need for low-budget movies to serve as the second half of a double feature
. His skills were perfect for TV. In 1950 his TV career began with directing The Jack Benny Program
, on which he appeared several times as himself. Other programs he directed include The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
, The George Gobel Program
, December Bride
, Leave It to Beaver
, My Three Sons
, and The Smothers Brothers Show
. He directed and/or produced more than 500 TV series or segments. He directed The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
starting in 1970. using the name Fred de Cordova. He became producer of the show in 1970 and executive producer in 1984. He described his job as “..chief traffic cop, talent scout, No. 1 fan and critic all rolled into one" in a 1981 interview. de Cordova was described as “.. a large, looming, beaming man with horn-rimmed glasses, an Acapulcan tan, and an engulfing handshake that is a contract in itself, complete with small print and an option for renewal on both sides.” He was executive producer when the final Carson show signed off in 1992. He won five Emmys
for his work on the show.
During tapings of the Tonight Show, de Cordova would sit in a chair just beyond the guests' couch so that he could cue Carson directly and speak with him during commercial breaks. By the 1980s Carson would occasionally speak to de Cordova during the show, although usually the moment would pass so quickly that there would be no time to give de Cordova a microphone or catch him on camera.
These awkward exchanges became an object of parody. An episode of SCTV
aired in 1981 featured a sketch of "The Freddie de Cordova Show". The segment was almost an exact copy of the Tonight Show, except the host's desk was empty; de Cordova conducted all of his interviews from his usual perch off-camera. On the real program in 1988, as a takeoff on the installation of lights in Wrigley Field, Carson ceremonially installed a light on the edge of the set so that de Cordova could finally be seen.
During guest appearances on Late Night With Conan O'Brien
, comedian Will Ferrell
played the role of a deluded Robert Goulet
, who believed himself to be a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
. Ferrell's fictional Goulet made references to de Cordova, insisting that de Cordova owed him money (or, conversely, that Goulet owed de Cordova money).
in Woodland Hills
, California on September 15, 2001.
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....
.
Early life
De Cordova was born in New York City, New York, the son of Margaret (néeMarried and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Timmins) and George de Cordova, who worked in the theatre business. In his 1988 autobiography, de Cordova described his parents as con artists who, during his early years, lived well and skipped town without paying. He received an undergraduate degree in liberal arts
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
in 1931 from Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
.
Career
His first theater credit was as a performer in "Elmer the Great" (1928). After his graduation from Harvard Law SchoolHarvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
in 1933, he gained employment in the Shubert Theater
The Shubert Organization
The Shubert Organization is a theatrical producing organization and a major owner of legitimate theatres based in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded by the Shubert brothers, Sam S. Shubert, Lee Shubert, and Jacob J. Shubert of Syracuse, New York in the late 19th century in upstate New York,...
organization and directed stage shows for the next ten years. He was variously a performer, stage manager, stage director, and finally dialogue director, the last in "Ziegfeld Follies of 1943".
He was a dialogue director in five films, including To Have and Have Not
To Have and Have Not (film)
To Have and Have Not is a 1944 romance-war-adventure film. The movie was directed by Howard Hawks and stars Humphrey Bogart, Walter Brennan, and Lauren Bacall in her first film...
(1944). His first film directing job was “Too Young To Know" (1945) for Warner Brothers. He directed 23 movies. One of the better known was Bedtime for Bonzo
Bedtime for Bonzo
Bedtime for Bonzo is a 1951 comedy film directed by Fred de Cordova, starring future U.S. President Ronald Reagan. It revolves around the attempts of the central character, Professor Peter Boyd , to teach human morals to a chimpanzee, hoping to solve the "nature versus nurture" question...
(1951) starring a chimpanzee and future President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
. He also directed Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson
Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...
, Errol Flynn
Errol Flynn
Errol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
, Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
, Audie Murphy
Audie Murphy
Audie Leon Murphy was a highly decorated and famous soldier. Through LIFE magazine's July 16, 1945 issue , he became one the most famous soldiers of World War II and widely regarded as the most decorated American soldier of the war...
, Yvonne de Carlo
Yvonne De Carlo
Yvonne De Carlo was a Canadian-born American actress of film and television. During her six-decade career, her most frequent appearances in film came in the 1940s and 1950s and included her best-known film roles, such as of Anna Marie in Salome Where She Danced ; Anna in Criss Cross ; Sephora the...
, Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
and Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
. Much of his career was at Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
, where he was known for turning out entertaining pictures quickly, even with difficult actors, and on a low budget. His last film was Frankie and Johnny
Frankie and Johnny (1966 film)
Frankie and Johnny is a 1966 musical film starring Elvis Presley as a riverboat gambler. The role of "Frankie" was played by Donna Douglas from The Beverly Hillbillies TV series. The film reached #40 on the Variety weekly national box office list for 1966. The budget of the film was estimated at...
(1966) with Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
.
He turned to directing television when there was less need for low-budget movies to serve as the second half of a double feature
Double feature
The double feature, also known as a double bill, was a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatre managers would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown.The double feature, also known as...
. His skills were perfect for TV. In 1950 his TV career began with directing The Jack Benny Program
The Jack Benny Program
The Jack Benny Program, starring Jack Benny, is a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th-century American comedy.-Cast:*Jack Benny - Himself...
, on which he appeared several times as himself. Other programs he directed include The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
Burns and Allen
Burns and Allen, an American comedy duo consisting of George Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen, worked together as a comedy team in vaudeville, films, radio and television and achieved great success over four decades.-Vaudeville:...
, The George Gobel Program
George Gobel
George Leslie Gobel was an American comedian and actor. He was best known as the star of his own weekly NBC television show, The George Gobel Show, which ran from 1954 to 1960 .-Early years:He was born George Leslie Goebel in Chicago, Illinois, His father, Hermann Goebel, was a...
, December Bride
December Bride
December Bride is an American sitcom that aired on the CBS television network from 1954 to 1959, adapted from the original CBS radio network series that aired from June 1952 through September 1953.-Overview:...
, Leave It to Beaver
Leave It to Beaver
Leave It to Beaver is an American television situation comedy about an inquisitive but often naïve boy named Theodore "The Beaver" Cleaver and his adventures at home, in school, and around his suburban neighborhood...
, My Three Sons
My Three Sons
My Three Sons is an American situation comedy. The series ran from 1960 to 1965 on ABC, and moved to CBS until its end on August 24, 1972. My Three Sons chronicles the life of a widower and aeronautical engineer named Steven Douglas , raising his three sons.The series was a cornerstone of the CBS...
, and The Smothers Brothers Show
The Smothers Brothers Show
The Smothers Brothers Show is an American fantasy sitcom featuring the Smothers Brothers that aired on CBS on Friday nights at 9:30 p.m. ET from September 17, 1965 to September 9, 1966, co-sponsored by Alberto-Culver's VO5 hairdressing products and American Tobacco...
. He directed and/or produced more than 500 TV series or segments. He directed The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....
starting in 1970. using the name Fred de Cordova. He became producer of the show in 1970 and executive producer in 1984. He described his job as “..chief traffic cop, talent scout, No. 1 fan and critic all rolled into one" in a 1981 interview. de Cordova was described as “.. a large, looming, beaming man with horn-rimmed glasses, an Acapulcan tan, and an engulfing handshake that is a contract in itself, complete with small print and an option for renewal on both sides.” He was executive producer when the final Carson show signed off in 1992. He won five Emmys
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for his work on the show.
During tapings of the Tonight Show, de Cordova would sit in a chair just beyond the guests' couch so that he could cue Carson directly and speak with him during commercial breaks. By the 1980s Carson would occasionally speak to de Cordova during the show, although usually the moment would pass so quickly that there would be no time to give de Cordova a microphone or catch him on camera.
These awkward exchanges became an object of parody. An episode of SCTV
Second City Television
Second City Television is a Canadian television sketch comedy show offshoot from Toronto's The Second City troupe that ran between 1976 and 1984.- Premise :...
aired in 1981 featured a sketch of "The Freddie de Cordova Show". The segment was almost an exact copy of the Tonight Show, except the host's desk was empty; de Cordova conducted all of his interviews from his usual perch off-camera. On the real program in 1988, as a takeoff on the installation of lights in Wrigley Field, Carson ceremonially installed a light on the edge of the set so that de Cordova could finally be seen.
During guest appearances on Late Night With Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
, comedian Will Ferrell
Will Ferrell
John William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega...
played the role of a deluded Robert Goulet
Robert Goulet
Robert Gerard Goulet was a Canadian American entertainer as a singer and actor. He played the role of Lancelot in the Broadway musical Camelot of 1960.-Early life:...
, who believed himself to be a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....
. Ferrell's fictional Goulet made references to de Cordova, insisting that de Cordova owed him money (or, conversely, that Goulet owed de Cordova money).
Personal life
He married former actress Janet Thomas (b. 1919, d. 2009) in 1963, and they remained married for the rest of his life. He died of natural causes at the Motion Picture and Television Fund HospitalMotion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital
The Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital is a retirement community, with individual cottages, and a fully licensed, acute-care hospital, located at 23388 Mulholland Drive in Woodland Hills, California...
in Woodland Hills
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
Woodland Hills is a district in the city of Los Angeles, California.Woodland Hills is located in the southwestern area of the San Fernando Valley, east of Calabasas and west of Tarzana, with Warner Center in its northern section...
, California on September 15, 2001.
Further reading
- Bernstein, F., "Traffic cop, talent scout, critic. Fred De Cordova keeps Carson's Tonight Show on track" People Weekly, 22:131-2. October 8, 1984
- de Cordova, Fred, "Johnny Came Lately: An Autobiography". New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988. ISBN 0-671-55849-8 (hardcover); paperback reprint edition, Pocket Books, 1989, ISBN 0-671-67082-4.
External links
- Tonight Show bio
- Interview with Fred de Cordova on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
out of the „Archive of American Television“ Part 1 of 7