Sheldon Keller
Encyclopedia
Sheldon Bernard "Shelly" Keller (20 August 1923 – 1 September 2008) was an American
screenwriter
and composer
.
. He served in the Pacific Theater with the United States Army Signal Corps during World War II
.
After the war, Keller came home and married Bernice "Bitsy" Berkowitz. They had 2 children, Casey and Jamie. In 1951 he borrowed $500 from his father-in-law and moved the family to New York hoping to become an entertainer and comedian. He soon began writing for television.
On Caesar's Hour
, Keller worked with notable writers Mel Brooks
, Selma Diamond
, Larry Gelbart
, Mel Tolkin
, Michael Stewart and Gary Belkin. In 1956, 1957, and 1958 the show was nominated for Emmy Award for Best Comedy Writing - Variety or Situation Comedy.
Keller also wrote several episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show
, and M*A*S*H, including For Want of a Boot and The Chosen People Notable screenplays include Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell
(written with Melvin Frank
and Denis Norden
) and Cleopatra Jones
(with Max Julien
). Keller co-wrote the 1979 film Movie Movie
with Gelbart, winning the WGA Award for Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen. He wrote specials for Frank Sinatra
, Danny Kaye
and Carol Channing
, winning a 1966 Emmy Award with Hal Goldman
and Al Gordon for writing An Evening With Carol Channing.
In the early 80's, as his writing career was winding down, Keller formed the Beverly Hills Unlisted Jazz Band with friends Conrad Janis
and George Segal
. Their mix of jazz and comedy made them popular enough to play at Carnegie Hall
and on The Tonight Show
and led to their own PBS special in 1993, This Joint Is Jumpin'.
In later life, Keller collaborated with his friend Howard Albrecht on Funny Stuff, a newsletter of jokes for radio DJs and public speakers. Keller died at his home in Valencia, California
from complications of Alzheimer's disease
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Life and career
Keller was born in Chicago, Illinois and attended University of Illinois, where he began writing comedy with his fraternity brother Allan ShermanAllan Sherman
Allan Sherman was an American comedy writer and television producer who became famous as a song parodist in the early 1960s. His first album, My Son, the Folk Singer , became the fastest-selling record album up to that time...
. He served in the Pacific Theater with the United States Army Signal Corps during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
After the war, Keller came home and married Bernice "Bitsy" Berkowitz. They had 2 children, Casey and Jamie. In 1951 he borrowed $500 from his father-in-law and moved the family to New York hoping to become an entertainer and comedian. He soon began writing for television.
On Caesar's Hour
Caesar's Hour
Caesar's Hour is a live, hour-long American sketch comedy television program that aired on NBC from 1954 until 1957. The program starred, among others, Sid Caesar, Nanette Fabray, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris, Janet Blair and Milt Kamen, and featured a number of cameo roles by famous entertainers...
, Keller worked with notable writers Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
, Selma Diamond
Selma Diamond
Selma Diamond was a Canadian-born American comic actress and radio and television writer, and is known for her high-range, raspy voice and her portrayal of Selma Hacker on the first two seasons of the NBC television comedy series Night Court.-Life and career:Diamond was born in Montreal, Quebec,...
, Larry Gelbart
Larry Gelbart
Larry Simon Gelbart was an American television writer, playwright, screenwriter and author.-Early life:...
, Mel Tolkin
Mel Tolkin
Mel Tolkin, né Shmuel Tolchinsky , was a television comedy writer best known as head writer of the seminal, live TV sketch comedy series Your Show of Shows during the Golden Age of Television. There he presided over a storied staff that at times included Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Danny Simon, and...
, Michael Stewart and Gary Belkin. In 1956, 1957, and 1958 the show was nominated for Emmy Award for Best Comedy Writing - Variety or Situation Comedy.
Keller also wrote several episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom that initially aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from October 3, 1961, until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. It was produced by Reiner with Bill Persky and Sam Denoff....
, and M*A*S*H, including For Want of a Boot and The Chosen People Notable screenplays include Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell
Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell
Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell is a 1968 American comedy film directed by Melvin Frank, who co-wrote the original screenplay with Denis Norden and Sheldon Keller.The United Artists release was filmed at the Cinecittà Studios in Rome...
(written with Melvin Frank
Melvin Frank
Melvin Frank was an American screenwriter, film producer and film director. He collaborated with a former schoolfriend, Norman Panama to form a writing partnership which endured for 3 decades...
and Denis Norden
Denis Norden
Denis Mostyn Norden CBE is a former English comedy writer and television presenter. After an early career working in cinemas, he began scriptwriting during World War II. From 1948 to 1959, he co-wrote the successful BBC Radio comedy programme Take It from Here with Frank Muir...
) and Cleopatra Jones
Cleopatra Jones
-Plot:Cleopatra Jones is a strikingly beautiful black model with an array of flamboyant outfits. Modeling, however, is only a cover for her real job as a secret government agent. Jones is a Bond-like heroine with power and influence; an object of awe for her flashy wardrobe, her ’73 silver and...
(with Max Julien
Max Julien
Max Julien , is an American actor, best known for his role as Goldie in the 1973 blaxploitation film, The Mack. He also appeared in Def Jam's How to Be a Player and has guest starred on TV shows such as The Mod Squad and One on One.-Film career:A classically trained actor, Julien began his career...
). Keller co-wrote the 1979 film Movie Movie
Movie Movie
Movie Movie is a 1978 musical comedy film directed by Stanley Donen. Movie Movie consists of two short films, both starring the husband-and-wife team of George C. Scott and Trish Van Devere, with a fake movie trailer sandwiched in between them...
with Gelbart, winning the WGA Award for Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen. He wrote specials for Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian...
and Carol Channing
Carol Channing
Carol Elaine Channing is an American singer, actress, and comedienne. She is the recipient of three Tony Awards , a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination...
, winning a 1966 Emmy Award with Hal Goldman
Hal Goldman
Harold "Hal" Goldman was an American Emmy Award-winning screenwriter, television director.-External links:...
and Al Gordon for writing An Evening With Carol Channing.
In the early 80's, as his writing career was winding down, Keller formed the Beverly Hills Unlisted Jazz Band with friends Conrad Janis
Conrad Janis
Conrad Janis is an American jazz musician and also a theatre, film, and television actor. In the fall of 1953, he played eldest son Edward in the Ezio Pinza situation comedy Bonino on NBC...
and George Segal
George Segal
George Segal is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:George Segal, Jr. was born in 1934 Great Neck, Long Island, New York, the son of Fannie Blanche and George Segal, Sr. He was educated at George School, a private Quaker preparatory boarding school near Newtown, Bucks County,...
. Their mix of jazz and comedy made them popular enough to play at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
and on The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
and led to their own PBS special in 1993, This Joint Is Jumpin'.
In later life, Keller collaborated with his friend Howard Albrecht on Funny Stuff, a newsletter of jokes for radio DJs and public speakers. Keller died at his home in Valencia, California
Valencia, California
Valencia is an affluent planned community located in the City of Santa Clarita, California and Los Angeles County, California, U.S. in the northwestern corner of the Santa Clarita Valley, adjacent to Interstate 5. In 1987, it was one of the four unincorporated communities that merged to create the...
from complications of Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
.
Selected Filmography
- Caesar's HourCaesar's HourCaesar's Hour is a live, hour-long American sketch comedy television program that aired on NBC from 1954 until 1957. The program starred, among others, Sid Caesar, Nanette Fabray, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris, Janet Blair and Milt Kamen, and featured a number of cameo roles by famous entertainers...
(1954-1957) (TV) - The Art Carney Show (1959) (TV)
- The Dinah Shore Chevy ShowThe Dinah Shore Chevy ShowThe Dinah Shore Chevy Show is an American variety series hosted by Dinah Shore, and broadcast on NBC from October 1956 to June 1963. The series was sponsored by the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors and its theme song, sung by Shore, was "See the U.S.A...
(1961) (TV) - Ensign O'TooleEnsign O'TooleEnsign O'Toole is a military comedy that aired on NBC from September 23, 1962, to May 5, 1963, with 31-year-old Dean Jones in the title role of a nonchalant Navy ensign during the early 1960s. Jones, born in 1931 in Alabama and a Navy veteran of the Korean War, played an officer aboard the...
(1962) (TV) - The Dick Van Dyke ShowThe Dick Van Dyke ShowThe Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom that initially aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from October 3, 1961, until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. It was produced by Reiner with Bill Persky and Sam Denoff....
(1962-1964) (TV) - An Evening with Carol Channing (1966) (TV)
- Buona Sera, Mrs. CampbellBuona Sera, Mrs. CampbellBuona Sera, Mrs. Campbell is a 1968 American comedy film directed by Melvin Frank, who co-wrote the original screenplay with Denis Norden and Sheldon Keller.The United Artists release was filmed at the Cinecittà Studios in Rome...
(with Melvin FrankMelvin FrankMelvin Frank was an American screenwriter, film producer and film director. He collaborated with a former schoolfriend, Norman Panama to form a writing partnership which endured for 3 decades...
and Denis NordenDenis NordenDenis Mostyn Norden CBE is a former English comedy writer and television presenter. After an early career working in cinemas, he began scriptwriting during World War II. From 1948 to 1959, he co-wrote the successful BBC Radio comedy programme Take It from Here with Frank Muir...
) (1968) - The Marty Feldman Comedy MachineThe Marty Feldman Comedy MachineThe Marty Feldman Comedy Machine was a 1971 comedy-variety sketch show starring British comedian, Marty Feldman. Co-produced by ABC TV in America and ATV in England and filmed at Elstree Studios, it featured opening and closing credits by Terry Gilliam, as well as featuring guest appearances by...
(1972) (TV) - Roll OutRoll OutRoll Out is an American sitcom that aired Friday evenings on CBS during the 1973-1974 television season. Starring nightclub comedian Stu Gilliam and Hilly Hicks, and featuring Ed Begley, Jr...
(1973) (TV) - Cleopatra JonesCleopatra Jones-Plot:Cleopatra Jones is a strikingly beautiful black model with an array of flamboyant outfits. Modeling, however, is only a cover for her real job as a secret government agent. Jones is a Bond-like heroine with power and influence; an object of awe for her flashy wardrobe, her ’73 silver and...
(with Max JulienMax JulienMax Julien , is an American actor, best known for his role as Goldie in the 1973 blaxploitation film, The Mack. He also appeared in Def Jam's How to Be a Player and has guest starred on TV shows such as The Mod Squad and One on One.-Film career:A classically trained actor, Julien began his career...
) (1973) - M*A*S*H (1973-1974) (TV)
- Movie, Movie (with Larry GelbartLarry GelbartLarry Simon Gelbart was an American television writer, playwright, screenwriter and author.-Early life:...
) (1978) - HizzonerHizzonerHizzoner is a corruption of the title "His Honour", used in particular to refer to the mayor of larger North American cities.The term can further refer to:*Hizzoner, a 1933 short film directed by Ray McCarey...
(1979) (TV) - House CallsHouse Calls (TV series)House Calls is an American sitcom that lasted three seasons and 57 episodes, from December 17, 1979 to May 27, 1982, on CBS television, produced by Universal Television and based upon the 1978 feature film of the same name.-Scenario:...
(1980) (TV) - Joan Rivers and Friends Salute Heidi Abromowitz (1985) (TV)
- Side by Side (with Rosemary Edelman) (1988)