41 Facts About Martin Manulis

Martin Ellyot Manulis was an American television, film, and theatre producer.

Martin Manulis was the sole producer of the award-winning drama series, Playhouse 90, during its first two seasons from 1956 to 1958.

Martin Manulis was born and raised in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.

Martin Manulis's mother, Anna, was born in New York, the daughter of Russian immigrants.

Martin Manulis attended public schools in Brooklyn and graduated from Manual Training High School in Park Slope.

At age 16, Martin Manulis enrolled at Columbia College, Columbia University, majoring in English literature with aspirations to become a journalist.

Martin Manulis spent one summer while still in college performing in summer stock in Bar Harbor, Maine.

Martin Manulis graduated from Columbia in 1935 and began working as an assistant for Ben Boyer, the business manager for producer Max Gordon, at a salary of $25 a week.

Martin Manulis produced summer stock at Bass Rocks in Gloucester, Massachusetts, in partnership with Henry Levin.

Martin Manulis was married in 1939 to Katherine Bard, an actress and the daughter of Ralph Austin Bard, who served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy during World War II.

Martin Manulis was employed as a theater director, and his wife as a theater actress.

In early 1942, after the United States entered World War II, Martin Manulis served as a lieutenant in the US Navy and was stationed in London, England, censoring mail for war sensitive information.

Martin Manulis met and became friends with Noel Coward while stationed in London during the war.

Martin Manulis was the managing director at Westport for the summers from 1946 through 1950.

In 1951, Martin Manulis was hired by Charles Underwood as a staff producer for CBS Television.

Martin Manulis was trained in television production by Worthington Miner at CBS Television.

Martin Manulis was then assigned to take over as the producer of Casey, Crime Photographer, a half hour primetime drama.

Martin Manulis worked on Casey for approximately six months and hired Darren McGavin to take over the lead role.

Martin Manulis worked on Suspense for about a year from 1952 to 1953 and worked with casts that included Christopher Plummer.

In 1953, Martin Manulis was assigned to produce Studio One Summer Theatre, the summer version of CBS' 60-minute dramatic anthology series.

Martin Manulis later recalled the challenge of producing one of the first television shows in color, including the unwieldy color cameras and lighting problems.

From September 1954 through February 1955, Martin Manulis produced the first six episodes of the series, as follows:.

Martin Manulis produced 18 episodes of the series, including adaptations of A Farewell to Arms and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Martin Manulis is most remembered for his work as the producer of Playhouse 90, a weekly anthology series broadcast live on Thursday nights from CBS Television City in Los Angeles.

The initial concept was to have a troika of producers divide the work, but Martin Manulis was dissatisfied with the arrangement and withdrew.

Ultimately, CBS relented and agreed to have Martin Manulis produce every episode with Dominick Dunne and two others assisting him on production.

Martin Manulis produced the series for its first two seasons, hiring high quality talent to appear in the productions and using talented young writers and directors, including Rod Serling, John Frankenheimer, Arthur Penn, Arthur Hiller, and George Roy Hill.

Each show had a three-week production cycle, meaning that Martin Manulis regularly had three 90-minute dramas in varying stages production simultaneously.

The episodes that Martin Manulis produced from 1956 to 1958 included:.

Martin Manulis later recalled that the quality of some of the productions declined in the second season.

In 1958, Martin Manulis left Playhouse 90 and took a three-month break to tour Europe with his family.

Martin Manulis returned in the fall of 1958 as the "head of television" at 20th Century Fox Television.

Martin Manulis later recalled that, as soon as he arrived at Fox, he knew it was wrong.

Martin Manulis tried to quit shortly after arriving, but Spyros Skouras refused to release him.

Martin Manulis stayed, and he discovered a proposal for a series that he developed as The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, starring Dwayne Hickman and Bob Denver.

Martin Manulis later recalled that the lead actor, Gardner McKay, though remarkably good looking, simply could not act.

Martin Manulis joked that a dubbed version using the voice of a skilled French actor and Gardner's good looks were the perfect combination and proved to be a hit in France.

In 1977, Martin Manulis was the executive producer of the television series James at 16, a coming-of-age drama starring Lance Kerwin that aired on NBC from 1977 to 1978.

Martin Manulis produced the television miniseries, Chiefs in 1983 and James Michener's Space in 1985.

On September 28,2007, Martin Manulis died of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles, at the age of 92.

Martin Manulis' son, John Bard Martin Manulis, is a motion picture producer.