Jerry Belson

Biography: A product of the TV sitcom mills of the 1960s, Jerry Belson wrote numerous scripts for such programs as The Dick Van Dyke Show. With his then-partner Gary Marshall, Belson nurtured such small-screen projects as Marlo Thomas' That Girl (1966-70) and the short-lived Hey, Landlord (1967). In 1968, he made his theatrical-feature bow as producer/scripter of the James Garner/Debbie Reynolds comedy How Sweet It Is (1968). His subsequent film scripts made sport of suburban manners, mores and neuroses, as witness Smile (1976), Fun With Dick and Jane (1977) and The End (1978). In 1982, Belson made his directorial debut with Jekyll and Hyde...Together Again, a hit-and-miss spin-off of the weekly TV sketch-comedy series Fridays. His next offering as director, Surrender (1987), boasted one of the most bizarre scenes in motion-picture history: Sally Field and Michael Caine are "introduced" when they are stripped naked and tied up face-to-face! On occasion, Belson has appeared in front of theA product of the TV sitcom mills of the 1960s, Jerry Belson wrote numerous scripts for such programs as The Dick Van Dyke Show. With his then-partner Gary Marshall, Belson nurtured such small-screen projects as Marlo Thomas' That Girl (1966-70) and the short-lived Hey, Landlord (1967). In 1968, he made his theatrical-feature bow as producer/scripter of the James Garner/Debbie Reynolds comedy How Sweet It Is (1968). His subsequent film scripts made sport of suburban manners, mores and neuroses, as witness Smile (1976), Fun With Dick and Jane (1977) and The End (1978). In 1982, Belson made his directorial debut with Jekyll and Hyde...Together Again, a hit-and-miss spin-off of the weekly TV sketch-comedy series Fridays. His next offering as director, Surrender (1987), boasted one of the most bizarre scenes in motion-picture history: Sally Field and Michael Caine are "introduced" when they are stripped naked and tied up face-to-face! On occasion, Belson has appeared in front of the cameras, playing cameo roles in Semi-Tough (1977), Modern Romance (1981) and The Couch Trip (1988). In the late 1980s, Jerry Belson won two Emmy awards as one of the executive producers of Fox's The Tracy Ullman Show.… Expand