Bob Banner

Robert James Banner Jr. (August 15, 1921 – June 15, 2011 ) was an American producer, writer and director. From 1967 to 1972 he co-produced The Carol Burnett Show.

Life and career Banner was a native of Ennis, Texas, and credited his hometown with providing him the opportunity to prepare for his career. In high school he accompanied every singer in town, played in the high school band and was part-time organist in the Presbyterian Church. He credited band director Thomas Granger as the mentor who gave the biggest push to send him on his way. While a junior in high school he assisted Granger in writing and arranging the school Alma Mater, "Maroon and White", that has lasted since 1937.

He attended Southern Methodist University where he arranged for the Mustang Band and the Pigskin Revue, directed Script and Score, and organized his dance band that toured with Interstate Theaters Production of College Capers, where he met his wife, Alice. He graduated in 1943.

After college, he served three years on a destroyer in the United States Navy on a destroyer conducting radar and sonar duties and became a Lieutenant (junior grade).

He received a masters from the arts department of Northwestern University in 1948. With only eleven hours needed to obtain his doctorate degree, he opted to leave Northwestern to pursue a television career in New York City.

Banner began his career in television in 1948. While pursuing his PhD and teaching radio courses on campus at Northwestern University, Banner worked evenings in Chicago at local television station WMAQ as a production assistant on the children's show Kukla, Fran and Ollie. Advancements came quickly in those early days, and he soon became director of Garroway at Large, a local show that was picked up by NBC.

In December 1949, Fred Waring asked Banner to join him at CBS as producer/director of The Fred Waring Show. The challenge of working in this new experimental medium proved great enough to lure Bob away from academia.

While in New York, Banner also directed Omnibus, hosted by Alistair Cooke. The weekly series on CBS is often credited as the forerunner to television's cultural PBS network. In the early 1950s, he moved to Los Angeles when the once-experimental medium had matured and was heading west.

During the Golden Age of Television, Banner was one of the prime movers of variety programming. The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, which he produced and directed, garnered myriad awards including three Emmy Awards, two Christopher Awards, and two Peabody Awards.

In 1958, he formed Bob Banner Associates (BBA). BBA's first production was The Garry Moore Show with regulars Durward Kirby, Carol Burnett, and Marion Lorne. The program ran for 218 episodes and won several Emmys, including one for Carol Burnett.

In the early 1960s, Carnegie Hall was targeted for demolition and Bob was asked by Isaac Stern to produce a special to save the cultural landmark. Salute to Jack Benny at Carnegie Hall starred Isaac Stern, Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Van Cliburn, Benny Goodman, and Roberta Peters.

This was quickly followed by another special Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall, starring Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett which garnered three Emmys and the International Golden Rose Award.

Almost Anything Goes (adaptation of It's a Knockout) (Bob Banner Associates/ABC. 1975-76). Regis Philbin was a "field reporter". A Junior Almost Anything Goes, with Soupy Sales hosting, in 1976-77 on weekend mornings followed, then a syndicated version with celebrities, “All Star Anything Goes,” in 1977-78 with Bill Boggs hosting.

Death According to the Associated Press, Banner died on June 15, 2011, in Los Angeles at age 89. Family spokeswoman Lauren Cottrell told the Los Angeles Times that Banner died of Parkinson's disease at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital retirement community in suburban Woodland Hills. In recent years, Banner lived with his wife, Alice in Calabasas, California. Their three sons, Baird, Robert III (deceased), and Chuck live in Cerrillos NM, and Abiquiu, NM.

Posthumous lawsuits A year after Banner's death, BBA filed a lawsuit against Carol Burnett's production company Whacko Inc. over royalty rights regarding the distribution of the syndicated half-hour show Carol Burnett and Friends on television, and The Carol Burnett Show and Mama's Family episodes on home video. Whacko, Inc. representatives have countered during ongoing litigation that Banner left the show after five years, and no sketches from those first five years have been included on Carol Burnett and Friends episodes, nor on any Burnett performances that were released on DVD until 2015. In 2015, episodes from the first five seasons of The Carol Burnett Show were issued on DVDs for the first time subtitled The Lost Episodes.

Whacko, Inc. has since sought, and received, an injunction barring BBA from marketing a DVD featuring Burnett's appearances on The Garry Moore Show from 1959 to 1962, during which she performed as a member of the program's ensemble cast. The complaint alleges that "...the DVD and its promotional artwork confuse the public by falsely suggesting that the starring performer on the DVD is Carol Burnett".

Filmography Producer credits Film/Television Year NoteReal Kids, Real Adventures 1997 TV series (unknown episodes)Amazing Music 1996 TVAngel Flight Down TVHappy Birthday, George Gershwin! 1995 TVThe Sea-Wolf 1993 TVUptown Comedy Club 1992 TV seriesYes Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus 1991 TVShowtime at the Apollo 1987–1996 TV series (unknown episodes)Star Search 1983–1986 3 episodesAndy Williams' Early New England Christmas 1982 TVBattle of the Las Vegas Show Girls 1981 TVThe Way They Were TVSolid Gold 1980 TV series (unknown episodes)If Things Were Different TVThe Darker Side of Terror 1979 TVA Special Sesame Street Christmas 1978 TVMy Husband Is Missing TVBud and Lou TVA Salute to American Imagination TVEaster by the Sea TVPerry Como, Las Vegas Style 1976 TVThe Carol Burnett Show 1967–1972 TVChristmas in Austria 1976 TVThe Last Survivors 1975 TVJourney from Darkness TVLisa, Bright and Dark 1973 TVThicker Than Water 9 episodesMongo's Back in Town 1971 TVMy Sweet Charlie 1970 TVJohn Davidson at Notre Dame 1967 TVWarning Shot Carol + 2 1966 TVThe Entertainers 1964–1965 TVOnce Upon a Mattress 1964 TVAn Evening with Carol Burnett 1963 TVJulie and Carol at Carnegie Hall 1962 TVKings of Broadway TVDiagnosis: Unknown 1960 TV series (unknown episodes)Candid Camera 1960–1967 TV series (unknown episodes)The Dinah Shore Chevy Show 1958 1 episodeThe Dave Garroway Show 1953 TV series (unknown episodes)

Director credits TV Series Year NoteThe Dinah Shore Chevy Show 1958 1 episodeProducers' Showcase 1956 1 episodeThe Dave Garroway Show 1953 TV series (unknown episodes)

Writer Film/TV Series Year NoteAmazing Music 1996 TVHappy Birthday, George Gershwin! 1995 TV

Awards and honors Other recognition over the years include: Doctorate of Fine Arts degree from Northwestern University Distinguished Service medal as VP of ATAS. Distinguished Alumni Award from Southern Methodist University Dallas TACA Award for Excellence in the Performing Arts 6 Christopher Awards 5 Awards of Excellence 1 Emmy Award