Leonard Nimoy in the 1950s & early '60s

Leonard Nimoy was living hand-to-mouth in the 1950s and early 60s, as a struggling actor in TV and movies, before his stardom on Star Trek and Mission: Impossible. He landed the leading role in the feature film Kid Monk Baroni (1952) (photo, left), but spent most of his early career in TV in small roles, in such series as Dragnet (photo, center) and The Twilight Zone (photo, right).

"The work that I was useful for when I was hired-- which was rare in those days-- were always offbeat nasty guys. Ethnic characters of one kind or another. Guys who beat up people and that sort of thing. They were always in trouble. The good guys were guys that looked like Tab Hunter. The look at that time was a look that wasn’t me. They say, you have small eyes, or you have a crooked nose, or, you know, 'No, no, no, no, no! Next. Next.'"

Several of Nimoy's early parts are now viewable on his Archive of American Television Interview page (see Featured Content)— watch these early roles and hear Leonard Nimoy discuss his early career here.

The Monsters Were Due on Maple Street Fifty Years Ago Today

One of The Twilight Zone's best remembered episodes— and a staple of Twilight Zone marathons— is the first season's "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street." Scripted by Rod Serling, it's one of the series' social commentaries-- on how easily ones neighbors can turn against each other. It stars Claude Akins and Jack Weston, and among the supporting cast is young actor Burt Metcalfe. Metcalfe would become an Emmy-nominated producer (M*A*S*H) in later years. Watch what he had to say about this early acting foray along with Twilight Zone producer Del Reisman (who talks about how Rod Serling created The Twilight Zone specifically to tell these kinds of stories) on the Archive's new page for "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street."

"The Twilight Zone" Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary

The Twilight Zone debuted on October 2, 1959 and has become one of the crown jewels of classic television over the last fifty years. Series creator Rod Serling won two Emmy Awards for the series, for which he wrote a staggering 92 episodes.

The Archive of American Television has interviewed many of the contributors to The Twilight Zone, including writers Richard Matheson, Earl Hamner, Jr., and George Clayton Johnson; associate producer Del Reisman; directors Lamont Johnson, Richard L. Bare, Richard Donner, and James Sheldon; actors Cliff Robertson, William Shatner, George Takei, and Maxine Stuart.

To ring in the Zone's 50th, the Archive premieres new pages for Rod Serling and classic episodes "Eye of the Beholder" and "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" to our website, http://emmytvlegends.org, featuring clips from the Archive's interviews.

Click on the links below to access our new pages:

Rod Serling page









The Twilight Zone: "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" page







The Twilight Zone: "Eye of the Beholder" page

60 Years Ago-- "We, the People" Ushered in the Radio-Television Simulcast

In the early days of television as radio remained the dominant medium and television looked to make its foothold, several early shows were done as simulcasts on both mediums. We, the People was the first (on June 1, 1948) followed soon thereafter by such top radio radio shows as Arthur Godfrey Time. As described in Arthur J. Singer's Arthur Godfrey: The Adventures of an American Broadcaster, Godfrey said at the top of his first simulcast (November 23, 1948): "This morning, we've got lights all around this place... and they're driving us crazy. They said, 'We'll come in, Arthur, and you won't even know we're there.' [He makes a face, thumbs his nose at the camera. The audience laughs. Then he addresses the radio audience.] For a penny postcard I'll explain that laugh to you folks."

We, the People began as a radio show in the 1930s known for its unusual testimonials of real people. When the show made its historic "first" as a radio-television simulcast, Variety, noted that the broadcast was preceded by a ten-minute ceremony in which CBS President Frank Stanton and reps from the advertising agencies that sponsored the show, cited the historic first of the simulcast. But, Variety griped: "In terms of depicting for home viewers how a radio show is run off, it could probably be classed as a success. But to call it a television show is a complete misnomer. With the single exception of a visual commercial midway in the program, no attempt was made at all to give the radio show a much needed TV Look."

Archive interviewee James Sheldon talks about directing We, the People (six minutes into part two of his interview). He describes how he staged the radio show and Ralph Levy directed the television portion and how, eager to make the show better for television, Levy taught Sheldon how to stage a show for TV.

Click here to view James Sheldon's entire six-part Archive interview.


James Sheldon's Interview Description:

Sheldon spoke about breaking into the business as an NBC page, and after a few years in advertising, turning his attentions to directing for television. He described his work on several shows from the 1950s including such diverse fare as: sitcom Mr. Peepers, daytime variety series The Eddie Albert Show, military anthology West Point Story, and drama The Millionaire. He also spoke in great detail about working with then-budding actor James Dean in two “live” television productions of Armstrong Circle Theater and Robert Montgomery Presents. He discussed his work on the anthology series The Twilight Zone, for which he directed such classic episodes as “It’s A Good Life” starring Billy Mumy. Other series he discussed included Family Affair and My Three Sons.

Incidentally, Carl Reiner talks about how We, the People inspired the "2,000 Year Old Man" sketch on Your Show of Shows (at the end of part three of his Archive interview)!

Director Robert Butler's Archive Interview is Now Online!

Director Robert Butler was responsible for creating the look and feel for many classic television series in a career that spanned five decades. His full Archive of American Television interview is now available online, including detailed accounts of directing the first episodes of Batman, Moonlighting (pilot telefilm) and Hill Street Blues.

Click here to access Robert Butler's entire five-hour interview.

Interview description:
Butler began by describing his early years breaking into the business as an usher at CBS. He described his experiences in various behind-the-scenes capacities on such classic “live” anthology series as Climax! and Playhouse 90. He described his first break in television directing on the comedy/drama series Hennesey. He detailed his many and varied assignments in series television in the 1960s on such series as The Detectives, Bonanza, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Dr. Kildare, Gunsmoke, The Defenders, The Fugitive, Hogan’s Heroes, The Twilight Zone, Batman, and Star Trek. Butler described his work in the 1970s on television movies (such as Columbo MOWs and James Dean) and feature films. He extensively described his groundbreaking work on the look of Hill Street Blues, for which he directed several of the initial episodes (including the pilot). He talked about his later work on such series as Remington Steele, Moonlighting (the telefilm pilot), Out on a Limb, Midnight Caller (which he also executive-produced), Sisters, and Lois & Clark. The interview was conducted by Stephen J. Abramson on January 14, 2004.

James Sheldon's Interview is Online

Director James Sheldon's Archive of American Television Interview is now online. Click here to access his entire interview.


In part 4 of his interview, Sheldon talks about working with James Dean in "live" television. James Dean appeared in about twenty television productions in the early 1950s before embarking on his feature film career.
PRESS THE PLAY ARROW IN THE PLAYER ABOVE TO WATCH THE SEGMENT NOW.

James Sheldon directed one of the quintessential episodes of the classic anthology series The Twilight Zone— "It's A Good Life," in which a boy (played by Billy Mumy) holds an entire town in fear demanding that they think "good thoughts" or face his wrath. As Rod Serling describes in his introduction to the episode: "....Oh yes, I did forget something, didn't I? I forgot to introduce you to the monster. This is the monster. His name is Anthony Fremont. He's six years old, with a cute little-boy face and blue guileless eyes. But when those eyes look at you, you'd better start thinking happy thoughts, because the mind behind them is absolutely in charge. This is the Twilight Zone." Sheldon discusses "It's A Good Life" and the other five episodes of The Twilight Zone he directed in Part 5 and Part 6 of his interview.

Interview description:
James Sheldon was interviewed for over three hours in New York, NY. He spoke about breaking into the business as an NBC page, and after a few years in advertising, turning his attentions to directing for television. He described his work on several shows from the 1950s including such diverse fare as: sitcom Mr. Peepers, daytime variety series The Eddie Albert Show, military anthology West Point Story, and drama The Millionaire. He also spoke in great detail about working with then-budding actor James Dean in two “live” television productions of Armstrong Circle Theater and Robert Montgomery Presents. He discussed his work on the anthology series The Twilight Zone, for which he directed such classic episodes as “It’s A Good Life” starring Billy Mumy. Other series he discussed included Family Affair and My Three Sons. The interview was conducted by Karen Herman on April 6, 2005.