Ben Starr (October 18, 1921 – January 19, 2014) was an American television producer, creator, writer and playwright, who wrote for Mork & Mindy in Season 1.
Biography[]
Born in Manhattan, New York, to Jewish Russian immigrants, Starr grew up in Brooklyn and worked in his parents' doughnut factory. He attended City College, later graduated from UCLA, and served in World War II. He became a second lieutenant navigator stationed in England and received the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Starr was married to his wife Gloria Kaplan for 50 years, until her death in 1999. They had three children. At age 92, Starr died of congestive heart failure in 2014 at his home in Los Angeles. [1]
Career[]
After the military, he began writing comedy for radio stars, such as Al Jolson, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis and George Burns. He started his television writing career for The Saturday Night Revue with Jack Carter (1951), All Star Revue (1952), My Hero (1952)
Starr co-created the sitcom Silver Spoons, helped develop The Facts of Life, and was a regular screenwriter for the popular series Mister Ed and All in the Family. He also wrote for such comedies as Chico and the Man, Maude, My Favorite Martian, The Andy Griffith Show, Petticoat Junction and The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.
He is notably credited for writing The Brady Bunch episode "The Personality Kid" in which Peter Brady (Christopher Knight) delivers his Humphrey Bogart impersonation of "pork chops and applesauce".
Starr also penned the Diff'rent Strokes line "What are you talking about, Willis?", in which Gary Coleman delivered in his own way and made it a catchphrase.
Starr also co-wrote the screenplays for the 1966 James Bond parody Our Man Flint, the 1966 Western satire Texas Across the River and the animated versions of Treasure Island (1972) and Oliver Twist (1974). He also wrote plays, including Broadway's The Family Way in 1965.
His last credit as a writer was on the 2001 Facts of Life Reunion.[1]
Mork & Mindy[]
The veteran Ben Starr's contribution to Mork & Mindy was Season 1's Mork Runs Down
References[]