The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences will be inducting Larry Gelbart into its Hall of Fame on Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 as part of its 18th Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Joining Gelbart are Bea Arthur, Dan Burke, Merv Griffin, Tom Murphy and Sherwood Schwartz. Gelbart is, of course, best known for his role in the creating M*A*S*H, developing the original novel for television, writing the pilot episode and dozens of others, and serving as executive producer for several years before leaving at the end of the fourth season.
In addition to M*A*S*H, Gelbart’s many writing credits include radio (beginning in 1945, Danny Thomas, Command Performance, The Joan Davis Show), television programs (beginning in 1952, Caesar’s Hour, United States, AfterMASH), film (beginning in 1962, Oh, God!, Tootsie) and stage (beginning 1948, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Mastergate). Here is his IMDb page; read more about Gelbart here at the Museum of Broadcast Communications.
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame began in 1984 and has since inducted more than 100 of television’s most influential and honored men and women including Alan Alda, Edward Asner, Dick Van Dyke, Brandon Tartikoff, William Shatner, Rod Serling, Lucille Ball, Norman Lear and Johnny Carson. Here is a complete list of inductees; an April 17th, 2008 press release about this year’s Inductees can be found here.
According to The Daily Breeze, the ceremony will be hosted by actor James Denton with presenters to include Norman Lear, Dawn Wells and Angela Lansbury.
