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William T. Orr

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia William T. Orr (September 27, 1917 – December 25, 2002) was an American television producer associated with a series of western and detective programs of the 1950s-1970s. On most of his Warner Bros. series, he was billed as "Wm. T. Orr." Orr began his career as an actor; his film credits included The Mortal Storm, The Gay Sisters, and The Big Street. As the first head of Warner Bros. Television department, Orr forged a fruitful alliance with ABC, which resulted in the network having a number of prime time hits, such as Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, and F Troop. At the height of this relationship in the early 1960s, Orr had nine programs in prime time simultaneously. Of these, though, no program was more significant than one of his earliest, Cheyenne. It was a groundbreaking series that was both the first hour-long western and the first series of any kind made by a major Hollywood film studio consisting entirely of content wholly exclusive to television. A curator at The Paley Center for Media (previously named The Museum of Television and Radio) once encapsulated Orr's importance to Warner Bros. by saying, "Television began as a step-child. But because of Orr, it became equal with film in creating revenue and jobs for the studio." One of the key reforms he made to effect this change was to move Warner's nascent television department from cramped quarters in New York City to Los Angeles studios separate from the film division. His impact on the genre of western fiction was recognized with a Golden Boot Award upon the announcement of his death.


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Born:
Sep 27, 1917 In New York City, New York, USA
Movie/TV Credits:
21
First Appeared:
In the movie Brother Rat 1938-10-29
Latest Project:
Movie Jack L. Warner: The Last Mogul 1993-05-14
Known For
Poster of Navy Blues
Poster of Those Good Old Days
Poster of Honeymoon for Three
Poster of Meet the Fleet
Filmography
Movie Jack L. Warner: The Last Mogul Himself 1993-05-14
Series This Is Your Life Unknown 1952-10-01
Movie Land and Live in the Desert Phil 1945-12-11
Movie He Hired the Boss Don Bates 1943-04-02
Movie Soldiers in White Johnny Allison 1942-02-07
Movie The Big Street Decatur Reed (as William Orr) 1942-08-13
Movie The Gay Sisters Dick Tone 1942-08-01
Movie Thieves Fall Out George Formsby 1941-05-03
Movie Honeymoon for Three Arthur Westlake 1941-01-18
Movie Three Sons o' Guns Kenneth Patterson 1941-08-02
Movie Those Good Old Days Joe La Rue 1941-08-16
Movie Unholy Partners Tommy Jarvis 1941-11-01
Movie Navy Blues 'Mac' 1941-09-13
Movie Young America Flies Jack 1940-07-13
Movie The Mortal Storm Erich Von Rohn 1940-06-20
Movie My Love Came Back Paul Malette 1940-07-13
Movie Service with the Colors Charles Corbin 1940-08-31
Movie Meet the Fleet Kansas Potter 1940-12-21
Movie The Hardys Ride High Dick Bannersly 1939-04-21
Movie Invitation to Happiness Bellboy (uncredited) 1939-06-07
Movie Brother Rat Member of the Guard 1938-10-29