William T. Orr

William T. Orr (born William Ferdinand Quinn Jr.; September 27, 1917 – December 25, 2002) was an American actor and television producer associated with various Western and detective programs of the 1950s-1970s. In most of his Warner Bros. series, he was billed as "Wm. T. Orr." Orr began his career as an actor; his film credits included The Mortal Storm, The Gay Sisters, and The Big Street.

Early years Orr was the son of William Ferdinand Quinn, a stockbroker and alderman, and Gladys Quinn ( Turney), an actress, formerly Herrmann, later Orr, later Hall. The Quinns divorced in 1923. Gladys later married two more times, When he was 18, he moved with his half-sister and his divorced mother to Los Angeles. He worked as a model, studied acting with Ben Bard, and performed in some plays. An agent arranged a screen test for Orr, but it was unsuccessful. One of the key reforms he made to effect this change was to move Warner's nascent television department from cramped quarters in New York City to Los Angeles studios separate from the film division.

Orr's responsibilities at Warner Bros. expanded on February 28, 1961, when he was named vice president in charge of motion pictures in addition to continuing his duties with TV programs.

Despite broadly positive posthumous recognition for his work as a whole, Orr did receive negative press during the height of his career—as well as afterwards—for his business practices. Time Magazine characterized Orr and Jack Warner as co-architects of unfair contracts during late-1950s pay disputes waged by Warner Bros. star television actors Clint Walker, James Garner, and Edd Byrnes. Orr's series were also noted for the cost-saving practice of recycling scripts from one series to another, switching only character names; during a writers' strike, such repurposed scripts were credited to "W. Hermanos".

Orr's star dimmed by 1963, as almost all of his series had run their course and had been cancelled. In 1963, towards the end of the 5th season, Jack Webb replaced Orr as executive producer of ABC's 77 Sunset Strip detective series. For the 6th season, Webb completely changed the theme song and format and retained only Efrem Zimbalist Jr. in the role of Stuart Bailey. The revision was a disaster, and the program was cancelled even prior to the end of the sixth season.

Orr was hired by Frank Sinatra's Essex Productions and continued as a television producer through 1966, including a stint as the executive producer of the first season of F Troop. After 1966, his only production credit was on the 1973 film Wicked, Wicked.

Personal life and death Orr married Jack L. Warner's stepdaughter Joy Page in 1945. The couple divorced in 1970. In August 2002,

An elementary school and street in Norwalk, California, are named for him.

Filmography