Rich Man, Poor Man (TV miniseries)
Encyclopedia
Rich Man, Poor Man was a 1976 American
television miniseries
that aired on ABC
in one-hour episodes at 10:00pm ET/PT on Monday night for twelve weeks, beginning February 1. It was produced by Universal Television and was the second time programming of this nature had been attempted. The first TV miniseries, QB VII, had aired -also on ABC- in 1974. These projects proved to be a critical and ratings success and were the forerunner for similar projects based on literary works, such as Roots
and Brideshead Revisited
.
Based on the best-selling 1970 novel
by Irwin Shaw
, it spanned the period from 1945 through the late 1960s and followed the divergent career courses of the impoverished German immigrant Jordache brothers. Rudy was the rich man of the title, a well-educated and very ambitious entrepreneur
who triumphed over his background and constructed a corporate and political empire. Poor man Tom was a rebel who eventually turned to boxing
to support himself. Axel and Mary were their parents, and Julie Prescott was Rudy's lifelong sweetheart who eventually married him.
Dean Riesner
wrote all twelve episodes, and direction was shared by Bill Bixby
, David Greene, and Boris Sagal
. The musical score was composed by Alex North
, who was nominated for the Grammy Award
for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special.
It spawned the sequel Rich Man, Poor Man Book II
, which aired from September 1976 through March 1977. The network repeated the original series Tuesday nights at 9:00pm in May and June 1977. It has been released on videotape
and DVD
.
wins
Emmy Award nominations
Golden Globe wins
Gloden Globe nominations
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
that aired on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in one-hour episodes at 10:00pm ET/PT on Monday night for twelve weeks, beginning February 1. It was produced by Universal Television and was the second time programming of this nature had been attempted. The first TV miniseries, QB VII, had aired -also on ABC- in 1974. These projects proved to be a critical and ratings success and were the forerunner for similar projects based on literary works, such as Roots
Roots (TV miniseries)
Roots is a 1977 American television miniseries based on Alex Haley's fictional novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family. Roots received 36 Emmy Award nominations, winning nine. It also won a Golden Globe and a Peabody Award. It received unprecedented Nielsen ratings with the finale still...
and Brideshead Revisited
Brideshead Revisited (TV serial)
Brideshead Revisited is a 1981 British television serial produced by Granada Television for broadcast by the ITV network. The teleplay is based on Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited...
.
Based on the best-selling 1970 novel
Rich Man, Poor Man
Rich Man, Poor Man is a novel written by Irwin Shaw in 1969. It is the last of the novels of Shaw's middle period before he began to concentrate, in his last works such as Evening In Byzantium, Nightwork, Bread Upon The Waters, and Acceptable Losses, on the inevitability of impending death...
by Irwin Shaw
Irwin Shaw
Irwin Shaw was a prolific American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and short-story author whose written works have sold more than 14 million copies. He is best-known for his novel, The Young Lions about the fate of three soldiers during World War II that was made into a film starring Marlon...
, it spanned the period from 1945 through the late 1960s and followed the divergent career courses of the impoverished German immigrant Jordache brothers. Rudy was the rich man of the title, a well-educated and very ambitious entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
who triumphed over his background and constructed a corporate and political empire. Poor man Tom was a rebel who eventually turned to boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
to support himself. Axel and Mary were their parents, and Julie Prescott was Rudy's lifelong sweetheart who eventually married him.
Dean Riesner
Dean Riesner
Dean Riesner was a prolific American film and television writer.Riesner's father was a silent film director, and Dean began acting in films at the age of five. His career at this young age ended because his mother wanted her son to have a real childhood...
wrote all twelve episodes, and direction was shared by Bill Bixby
Bill Bixby
Wilfred Bailey Everett “Bill” Bixby III was an American film and television actor, director, and frequent game show panelist.His career spanned over three decades; he appeared on stage, in motion pictures and TV series...
, David Greene, and Boris Sagal
Boris Sagal
Boris Sagal was a Ukrainian-born American television and film director.-Early life and career:Born in Yekaterinoslav, Soviet Union, Sagal emigrated to the United States where he attended the Yale School of Drama. Sagal's many TV credits include directing episodes of The Twilight Zone, "T.H.E...
. The musical score was composed by Alex North
Alex North
Alex North was an American composer who wrote the first jazz-based film score and one of the first modernist scores written in Hollywood ....
, who was nominated for the Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special.
It spawned the sequel Rich Man, Poor Man Book II
Rich Man, Poor Man Book II
Rich Man, Poor Man Book II is an American television miniseries that aired on ABC in one-hour episodes at 9:00pm ET/PT on Tuesday nights between September 21, 1976 and March 8, 1977...
, which aired from September 1976 through March 1977. The network repeated the original series Tuesday nights at 9:00pm in May and June 1977. It has been released on videotape
Videotape
A videotape is a recording of images and sounds on to magnetic tape as opposed to film stock or random access digital media. Videotapes are also used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram...
and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
.
Primary cast
- Peter StraussPeter StraussPeter Strauss is an American television and movie actor, known for his roles in several television miniseries in the 1970s and 1980s.-Personal life:...
. . . Rudy Jordache - Nick NolteNick NolteNicholas King "Nick" Nolte is an American actor whose career has spanned over five decades, peaking in the 1990s when his commercial success made him one of the most popular celebrities of that decade.-Early life:...
. . . Tom Jordache - Susan BlakelySusan BlakelySusan Blakely is an American film actress who has mainly played supporting roles.-Early life:Blakely was born in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1948. She is the daughter of Weezie, a former art teacher, and Colonel Lawrence Blakely, a career Army officer. Her first career break came while she was living...
. . . Julie Prescott - Edward Asner . . . Axel Jordache
- Dorothy McGuireDorothy McGuireDorothy Hackett McGuire was an American actress.-Career:Born in Omaha, Nebraska, she began her acting career on the stage at the Omaha Community Playhouse...
. . . Mary Jordache - Robert ReedRobert ReedRobert Reed was a prolific American character actor of stage, film and television. In his first big break, he played Kenneth Preston on the popular 1960s TV legal drama, The Defenders, alongside E. G. Marshall. But he was best remembered for portraying the father, Mike Brady, on the popular...
. . . Teddy Boylan - Gloria GrahameGloria GrahameGloria Grahame was an American Academy Award–winning actress.Grahame began her acting career in theatre, and in 1944 she made her first film for MGM. Despite a featured role in It's a Wonderful Life , MGM did not believe she had the potential for major success, and sold her contract to RKO Studios...
. . . Sue Prescott - Kim DarbyKim DarbyKim Darby is an American actress perhaps best known for co-starring with John Wayne and country singer/actor Glen Campbell in the 1969 western True Grit.-Early life and film career:...
. . . Virginia Calderwood - Bill BixbyBill BixbyWilfred Bailey Everett “Bill” Bixby III was an American film and television actor, director, and frequent game show panelist.His career spanned over three decades; he appeared on stage, in motion pictures and TV series...
. . . Willie Abbott - Fionnula Flanagan . . . Clothilde
- Tim McIntireTim McIntireTim McIntire was an American character actor, probably most famous for his portrayal of disc jockey Alan Freed in the film American Hot Wax...
. . . Brad Knight - Ray MillandRay MillandRay Milland was a Welsh actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award–winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend , a sophisticated leading man opposite a corrupt John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind , the murder-plotting...
. . . Duncan Calderwood - Lawrence PressmanLawrence PressmanDavid M. Pressman, Senior is an American actor, probably best known for roles on Doogie Howser, M.D., Ladies Man, a recurring role on Profiler, the titular character on Mulligan's Stew and as a fictional scientist in the 1971 film The Hellstrom Chronicle.His first role was on the soap opera The...
. . . Bill Denton - Talia ShireTalia ShireTalia Shire is an American actress most known for her roles as Connie Corleone in The Godfather films and Adrian Balboa in the Rocky series.-Personal life:...
. . . Teresa Santoro - Craig StevensCraig Stevens (actor)Craig Stevens was an American motion picture and television actor.-Early and personal life:Born Gail Shikles, Jr., in Liberty, Missouri, his father was a high school teacher....
. . . Asher Berg - Norman FellNorman FellNorman Fell , born Norman Noah Feld, was an American actor of film and television, most famous for his role as landlord Mr. Roper on the sitcom Three's Company and its spin-off, The Ropers.-Early life:...
. . . Smitty - Lynda Day GeorgeLynda Day GeorgeFor other entertainers with similar names, see Linda George .Lynda Day George is an American television and film actress whose career spanned three decades from the 1960s to the 1980s...
. . . Linda Quales - George MaharisGeorge MaharisGeorge Maharis is an American actor who portrayed Buz Murdock in the first three seasons of the TV series Route 66...
. . . Joey Quales - Murray HamiltonMurray HamiltonMurray Hamilton was an American stage, screen, and television actor who appeared in such memorable films as The Hustler, The Graduate and Jaws.-Early life:...
. . . Sid Gossett - Van JohnsonVan JohnsonVan Johnson was an American film and television actor and dancer who was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios during and after World War II....
. . . Marsh Goodwin - Dorothy MaloneDorothy MaloneDorothy Malone is an American actress. Her film career began in 1943, and in her early years she played small roles, mainly in B-movies. After a decade in films, she began to acquire a more glamorous image, particularly after her performance in Written on the Wind , for which she won the Academy...
. . . Irene Goodwin - Andrew DugganAndrew Duggan-Career:During World War II, Duggan was in the 40th Special Services Company, led by actor Melvyn Douglas in the China Burma India Theater of World War II. His contact with Douglas later led to his performing with Lucille Ball in the play Dreamgirl. He developed a friendship with Broadway...
. . . Col. Deiner - Herbert Jefferson, Jr. . . . Roy Dwyer
- Kay LenzKay LenzKay Ann Lenz is an American actress.A former child performer, Lenz has worked primarily in television and has won two Emmy Awards.-Background:...
. . . Kate Jordache - Leigh McCloskeyLeigh McCloskeyLeigh Joseph McCloskey is an American film and television actor.-Career:McCloskey was classically trained as an actor at the Juilliard School in Lincoln Center, New York. As an actor, he is perhaps most widely known for his role as Mitch Cooper on the CBS soap opera Dallas...
. . . Billy Abbott - Gavan O'HerlihyGavan O'HerlihyGavan O'Herlihy is an Irish actor.O'Herlihy was born in Dublin, the son of Elsa Bennett and Irish actor Dan O'Herlihy. In his youth, he was an avid tennis player, and even became Irish National Tennis Champion...
. . . Phil McGee - Josette BanzetJosette BanzetJosette Banzet, Marquise de Bruyenne is a French-born American-based actress. She won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film for her performance in Rich Man, Poor Man. -Marriages:...
. . . Miss Lenaut - William SmithWilliam Smith (actor)William Smith is an American actor who has appeared in almost 300 feature films and television productions.Smith began his acting career at the age of 8 in 1942...
. . . Anthony Falconetti - Dick SargentDick SargentRichard Stanford Cox , known professionally as Dick Sargent, was an American actor, notable as the second actor to portray Darrin Stephens on the television series Bewitched...
. . . Eddie Heath - Dennis DuganDennis DuganDennis Dugan is an American director, comedian, and actor. He is most famous for his partnership with comedic actor Adam Sandler, with whom he directed the films Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, Grown Ups, Just Go With It, and Jack and...
. . . Claude Tinker - Michael MorganMichael MorganMichael Morgan or Mike Morgan may refer to:* Michael Ryan Morgan , soldier* Michael K. Morgan , Australian neurosurgeon* Michael J...
. . . Wesley Jordache - Dick ButkusDick ButkusRichard Marvin "Dick" Butkus is a former American football player for the Chicago Bears. He was drafted in 1965 and he is also widely regarded as one of the best and most durable linebackers of all time. Butkus starred as a football player for the University of Illinois and the Chicago Bears. He...
. . . Al Fanducci
Awards and nominations
Emmy AwardEmmy 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...
wins
- Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Alex North)
- Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series (David Greene)
- Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy Series (Edward Asner)
- Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in Comedy or Drama Series (Fionnula Flanagan)
Emmy Award nominations
- Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction or Scenic Design - Single Episode of a Comedy, Drama or Limited Series
- Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography for Entertainment Programming for a Series
- Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design for a Drama or Comedy Series
- Outstanding Achievement in Film Editing for Entertainment Programming for a Series (February 2 episode)
- Outstanding Achievement in Film Editing for Entertainment Programming for a Series (March 5 episode)
- Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (Ray Milland)
- Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (Robert Reed)
- Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Dorothy McGuire)
- Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series (Boris Sagal)
- Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series (Nick Nolte)
- Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series (Peter Strauss)
- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series (Susan Blakely)
- Outstanding Limited Series
- Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in Comedy or Drama Series (Bill Bixby)
- Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in Comedy or Drama Series (Norman Fell)
- Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in Comedy or Drama Series (Van Johnson)
- Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in Comedy or Drama Series (Kim Darby)
- Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in Comedy or Drama Series (Kay Lenz)
- Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series (Dean Riesner)
Golden Globe wins
- Best TV Series (Drama)
- Best TV Actress, Drama (Susan Blakely)
- Best Supporting Actor, Television (Edward Asner)
- Best Supporting Actress, Television (Josette Banzet)
Gloden Globe nominations
- Best TV Actor, Drama (Nick Nolte)
- Best TV Actor, Drama (Peter Strauss)