Robert "Bob" Fisher (September 21, 1922 – September 19, 2008) was an American playwright, and television and film screenwriter mostly of situational comedy.
Biography One of the most prolific of sitcom writers, Fisher began in television the 1950s by pairing up with a veteran radio writer twenty-five years his senior named Alan Lipscott. Lipscott and Fisher wrote the first episode of the CBS-TV sitcom series Make Room For Daddy (starring Danny Thomas) in 1953, and went on to craft teleplays for The Donna Reed Show, Bachelor Father (which starred John Forsythe), Bronco, How to Marry a Millionaire, and others. Following Lipscott's death in 1961, Fisher then began writing with Arthur Marx, and that partnership (which lasted for over twenty-five years) produced episodes of McHale's Navy, My Three Sons, The Mothers-in-Law, the short lived ABC-TV series The Paul Lynde Show, and NBC-TV's Life With Lucy in 1986. He and Marx were also story editors and frequent writers on CBS-TV's Alice from 1977–1981.
Fisher also wrote occasionally with Arthur Alsberg (on I Dream of Jeannie and Mona McCluskey) and had three plays produced on Broadway: the hit The Impossible Years (with Marx), Minnie's Boys (with Marx), and Happiness Is Just a Little Thing Called a Rolls Royce (with Alsberg), which closed after one performance.
Fisher is also the author of the book The Knight in Rusty Armor, which is a tale of man's journey to discover himself through a series of both comedic and tragic transformations.
Death Fisher died in 2008 in Topanga, California, just two days before his 86th birthday, although other sources given the date of death as 26 September.
Works as screenwriter His many works as a television writer included:
Partial filmography YearTitleJobNotes1986Life with Lucy (TV series)Writer3 episodes1982There Was a Little GirlWriterFeature film1977-1981Alice (TV series)Writer (Story)40 episodes1975Good Times Story/Teleplay1 episode ("The Dinner Party")MaudeWriter1 episode ("Walter's Ethics")The JeffersonsWriter1 episode ("Jefferson vs. Jefferson")1972-1973The Paul Lynde ShowWriter9 episodes1972 All in the FamilyWriter1 episode ("The Locket")1969 The Good GuysWriter1 episode ("The Eyes Have It")1968-1969The Mothers-In-Law (TV series)Writer4 episodes1965I Dream of JeannieWriter3 episodes 1963-1971My Three SonsWriter2 episodes 1961Leave It to BeaverStory1 episode ("Teacher's Daughter")1959-1962Bachelor FatherWriter/Teleplay30 episodes1958-1959The Donna Reed Show Writer/Teleplay5 episodes totalBroncoWriter2 episodes1958How to Marry a MillionaireWriter2 episodes1953-1963Make Room For Daddy Writer/TeleplayInvolved with 18 total episodes
Fisher also produced television episodes for: McHale’s Navy My Three Sons The Mothers-in-Law The Paul Lynde Show Life With Lucy Cheyenne
His plays included:
Happiness Is Just a Little Thing Called a Rolls Royce (1968) The Impossible Years (1968) Minnie's Boys (1970) Groucho: A Life in Revue (1987)
In his last few years he was said to lead a "a peripatetic lifestyle".
References
External links