William O. Harbach

Harbach (at age 25), under a MGM stock player contract in 1945-1948, became acquainted with Kay Thompson at the Culver City's MGM film studio, where he got to know her because she was head of all the musical material at the MGM film studio. They became great friends. When Kay found out that Harbach had been fired from MGM and he had no job when her cabaret act was to transfer to New York City. Always on the move, Kay at age 37, (b: 11/09/1909) decided to put together her own club act which opened at Ciro's Hollywood night club on the Sunset Strip in late 1947. The singer/comedienne was a sensation with her Coward-esque brand of stylish eccentricity. Her unique, full-throttled blend of sophisticated music, outrageous satire and clever banter made her act a virtual "must see" among the Hollywood film industry's "who's who". Featured with her (in both musical and comedy sketches) was a talented harmony she discovered, the singing Williams Brothers, which featured a young Andy Williams. Kay said to Harbach, "Ah, you're going to work with me. You're going to manage me in New York." Harbach said, "Kay, I don't know what to..." She said, "I'll tell you what to do. Just goddamn do it." Bill related, "Kay was divine. Ah! She started me off. I showed up every night for the show and anything she wanted I just did. I would have to check to see if there were any stars in the crowd and report them to Kay for the second show and that kind of stuff, every night that the Williams Brothers and Kay were doing their nightclub performance. Le Director was the name of the night club. She found out that Noel Coward was going to be at the show. She said to me, 'Bill, I want you to get four sets of candles on every table." It was nine o'clock at night! "Go get fifty candles. I want this room full of candles." Bill scrambled all over New York City. He finally found a place that had nothing but candles and he paid a ton of money. He lit 'em all. At the end of the first show Kay said, "Go down and get Mr. Coward." So Bill went and brought Noel up. "I'll never forget what he said. When Kay did her act - it was awesome. At the very end of it she did a bow that would have been for the King of England. Way down, straight forward with both hands, standing up and off the stage - and never go back for the second bow. She would not milk. She did this thing at the very end of each show. Noel walked into the dressing room. 'Hello, darling! You did that beautiful bow at the end and walked off! Had you come back I would have KILLED YOU.' Noel was marvelous. I did things like that when I worked for Kay. One time the socialites of New York wanted to give a big party at River House. They wanted Kay Thompson to do her act and she okayed it. She said to me, 'Now, Bill, listen. I want you get the cheque first. I want it before I go on.' I said 'Okay.' I came early and I knocked on the door. 'I'd like to talk to the person giving the party.' I spoke with this socialite. I said, 'At the risk of being a boor, I have to ask for the check first.' She said, 'Oh, come on, Mr. Harbach. This is the society of America here.' I said, 'I'm sorry, I have to." Now I'm on the rails. If I can't do what Kay asked me to do... and it looked like it was going down in flames with this lady. Luckily, a woman walked by us that I used to date. She was one of the top... it was Babe Paley." She was CBS' William Paley's wife and they were very close friends. "Billy! What are you doing here? You'll have to give me a dance, okay?" The woman saw this and she said, "Okay, Mr. Harbach. We'll do the check now." Bill related, "Little tiny things like that were going on with Kay, but she was marvelous. Kay gave me a little oxygen before things started to happen for me." Bill worked with Kay Thompson and the Williams Brothers act for a year, which was the top night club act in New York when she was performing it. After a six-year trek the cabaret act was disbanded in the summer of 1953 She had to come to New York with The Williams Brothers, including a very young Andy Williams, with her cabaret act. Andy Williams split and went his own way, the cabaret act was over and Kay went back to California and Andy did gigs at The Copa for a week. And then Harbach started with Steve Allen in 1953 at age 33.

Inducted into the U.S. Croquet Hall of Fame in 1983 and brought the game to the Sheep Meadow in New York's Central Park.

He was a producer and director, known for The Julie Andrews Hour (1972), The Hollywood Palace (1964) and Gypsy in My Soul (1976). He was married to Barbara Schmid Vought, Fay Caulkins Palmer and Laurie Douglas.

Every Saturday night, ABC's "The Hollywood Palace" television variety show was a special media entertainment event. The program's opening format established an unusual unprecedented fifteen minute segment unbroken by any commercial advertising interruption for a prime-time network program. The show immediately introduced the show's host in a unique vaudeville proscenium stage frame with an elaborate electrical chase-light picture-frame-work designed by production designer Jim Trittipo. After this theatrical introduction, the opening principle stage set was like a book, opening to turn into another "theme-stage-set look" with a choreographed musical production number featuring the show's host or another musical performer; then followed by a comedian's stand-up routine, or an animal act performed in front of the show's electric framed stage proscenium, in front of a translucent silk stage curtain before the show would break for a commercial advertising time spot-break. Making each transition became a novelty because of the design team's stage setting. After the opening host musical production introduction, the stage set would then open up, like a children's pop-up centerfold book, turning the setting into a completely different stage "look" for the show's opening musical production feature headline act, either a female or male singer with a choreographed dance line choreographed back-up. Jim Trittipo, the production designer, in his own personal approach of a "white on white" design style "look" always painted his stage settings a "tech off-white pigment based monochrome non-color white." Jack Denton, the show's terrific lighting designer, would "paint" the stage-sets through his lighting technique with color. Because the program was broadcast live or in video-tape, viewed only in black and white, Denton's subtle color gel stage-lighting enhanced the value scale of the B&W viewing transmission but the viewing audience never saw the program's subtle color palette. Several of Trittipo's stage set designs employed construction techniques that made the setting appear as an enhanced giant paper sculpture visual valentine or a Christmas pop-up card. The show's producers Nick Vanoff, Bill Harbach and Director Grey Lockwood instructed their stage-center and rear ramp electronic camera operators to maintain wide shots which gave the performance a feature film production quality. This full frame long shot was always established, maintained, in every choreographed production number performance, especially with dancing-hosts Gene Kelly, Ginger Rogers, Donald O'Connor and Fred Astaire. In 1966, when the ABC network switched to a broadcasting color network, the West Coast "The Hollywood Palace" studio-stage became the first ABC West Coast television facility converted from B&W to color. Nick Vanoff "ordered" Trittipo to cease "white on white" scenery and only use painted "colorful" stage scenery. With Jack Denton's lighting techniques, his lighting further enhanced the show's variations in the color palette. "The Hollywood Palace" design team received a 1966 EMMY in the Series Art Direction award category: Individual Achievements in Art Direction and Allied Crafts - Art Direction - The Hollywood Palace.

A Canadian film and television transplant, Carol Warrian became ABC TV's "The Hollywood Palace" variety show producers' Nick Vanoff and Bill Harbach personal secretary when the program's staff was originally organized and put into production in early December, 1963. Carol, also "uncredited" as an Assistant to the Producers, performing her job during the seven years of the prime-time broadcasting production series period; the program established as a TV music variety Saturday night broadcast at 9:30 P.M. with summer reruns of the previous Fall, Winter and Spring broadcast schedule. The musical variety show "The Hollywood Palace" was a mid season replacement for "The Jerry Lewis Show." The prime-time Saturday night premier broadcast of "The Hollywood Palace" was on January 4, 1964, broadcast weekly until the series was axed by ABC Programing during the seventh mid-season, ending the music variety series last final broadcast on a Saturday night, February 7, 1970, hosted by Bing Crosby featuring video-clips of the show's featured retrospective performances. Carol's office mate was with Associate Producer Rita Scott, who both maintained a disciplined production office management team. Susan Horowitz, the production accountant and talent coordinator assistant, worked with Elliott Alexander in production talent booking performers/entertainers and comedians. Henry Bollinger served as the agency talent coordinator. The only other female Zodiac Production staff member was the second floor office receptionist and telephone office specialist, Maxine Windendahl. The second floor Production staff offices were located above the Vine Street theater-studio lobby, across the street from Columbia Records Hollywood Tower. The shows art department team was located in the South end of the second floor, production designer Jim Trittipo and his assistant art director/designer Hub Braden. At the North end of the second floor, Jerry McPhie (1963-1968), the original unit production manager (UPM) shared his office with his assistant Dave Loring (1963-1964); Peter B. Sterne (1964); John Monarch (1969-1970); Dennis Doty (1968-1969) who had been an ABC Studio-Staff audience-page manager that Nick and Bill hired for their staff assignment. The UPM position frequently changed on television shows, the UPM jumping up and off the ship-board, because each individual performing the PM position would depart after a year or two, moving up in the ranks to a producing position for their own acquired television project. Adjacent the producers' office complex resided the show's writing staff: Joe Bigelow and Jay Burton (1963-1970); additional writers included George Bloom (1963-1966); Hal Collins (1964-1965); Gordon Farr (1966-1968); Bernie Orenstein (1967-1969). Downstairs behind the studio's control booth resided the show's video tape editor Nick Giordano (1963-1970). ABC Studio Guard Ray Hines maintained the show's building lobby, the upstairs office complex and backstage area, control of the audience lobby ticket box-office service area from the beginning of 1963 through 1975. Ray Hines was a valued member of the production, who saved the studio building from being destroyed by a back-stage electrical fire after the stage crew had departed the premises. Vanoff and Harbach's production staff functioned as a well oiled machine, united together in the production's daily, weekly operation.

Ed Sullivan had an across-the-country newspaper column where he would announce who would be featured on his prime-time Sunday night CBS TV variety show. So Ed Sullivan had a double thing and everybody, and everyone wanted to be on his CBS television hour. This was the show that everyone was watching on Sunday nights at 8 pm. There was no hesitation on Steve Allen's part to do that NBC "Tonight!" (1954) Sunday night 8 o'clock show. Harbach said, "Steve couldn't care less. He'd do anything. He started making some heavy money. Consider it. I think he was getting three or four thousand a week, which today would be fifty thousand a week or something. He didn't balk at anything. NBC came to Steve and said, 'We want you to get new singers. We're going real big on the show.' Steve said, 'Oh? Well, I'll take Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee.' They said, 'Well, they're not available.'" Steve said, "Okay, well then I'm going to take Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme - because they're fine as they are." Harbach continued his story, "Steve demanded it. He wouldn't do the show unless they kept Steve and Eydie. He was a gutsy guy and I loved him. There was also a cute looking girl named Pat Kirby. Every once in a while I would turn the whole show into one theme. Richard Rodgers all night long! I told the network that we needed to alternate singers on the weeknights. So they said, 'Go ahead and find one.' I was getting a haircut at the Plaza Hotel. We were doing auditions to find kids like Steve and Eydie. Son of a gun, I'm walking down from the Plaza Hotel to NBC and Andy Williams walks off a bus. I said, 'Andy!' He was just doing gigs around town, whatever he could get. I said, 'Hey Andy, what are you doing for the next two hours? Come with me. I want you to do an audition down at NBC. He came down, did the audition and Steve and Skitch Henderson said, 'Oh my God!' I got him on the show." Bill Harbach while producing the NBC TV nightly prime time program broadcast of "The Steve Allen Show" (1953-1954) when Pat Weaver said "let's put this goddamn... let's put Steve Allen up against Ed Sullivan. Let's do it." Steve Allen's producer Bill Harbach's response, "I can't do five shows and then a weekend show unless I get some help." NBC said, "Go get an associate." This little guy came in named Nick Vanoff. He was so hungry for it. I hired him and we became fast friends for the rest of our lives. I asked him to take over the weekly "The Steve Allen Show" while I worked all week long on this big Sunday night show. He knew the routine of "The Steve Allen Show." We became partners. Nick Vanoff was my partner and he was a sensational guy. When we were doing the "Tonight!" show and were really hot, one thing that bothered the hell out of NBC's Pat Weaver was that Ed Sullivan owned eight o'clock Sunday nights and nothing could get near him. They had one sponsor - Lincoln. We had spot sponsors with whoever wanted to buy a minute. We were around for the feud between Ed Sullivan and Steve Allen. It was great publicity for both show teams. Steve did it tongue in cheek, basically. We wanted Will Jordan to do a routine on the Steve Allen show, we were going to do a cold open Sunday night - with Will Jordan acting as Ed Sullivan - acting as if it were "The Ed Sullivan Show" - and doing it exact without any buffoonery - not letting on that it was anything other than the real deal. The network said NO. Steve Allen left the "Tonight!" Sunday night show altogether to do "The Steve Allen Show" full time. The NBC program that replaced "Tonight!" - briefly - was titled: "Tonight After Dark." Harbach and Vanoff were out of that picture and had nothing to do with the replacement show. When Harbach and Vanoff later produced ABC TV's "The Hollywood Palace" in 1964 (1964-1970), it was similar to Ed Sullivan in terms of program format, except the ABC Saturday night variety show was much more glamorous.

Harbach recalled an October, 1950 Saturday afternoon TV football quiz show called "Touchdown," written and produced by Albert Black and with himself as the TV Show's director, the emcee was Hal Tunis with guest performers Marion Carter, Conrad Nagel, Alan Dale ...."Conrad Nagel was an old actor from the silent days, a very nice guy. I did a lot of nonsense in those early shows, but they did have some interesting people on them." Another show Harbach directed in March 1951 was "Star Night at the Versailles" with Bill Stern, Joey Adams, Slapsie Maxie, Tony Martin, Al Capp... "Joey Adams I didn't know very well. Al Capp was funny and could do great drawings. Bill Stern was a nice guy. Tony Martin I knew from my Hollywood MGM days".

Attended the Horace Mann School's kindergarten and Pelham Day School. He spent five years at the Choate School (now Choate Rosemary Hall) where he met John F. Kennedy and Alan Jay Lerner. Harbach spent one year preparing for college at the Hun School of Princeton, after which he was accepted at Brown University. He spent one year at Brown before enlisting in the Coast Guard. In the spring 1946, after his military service, he was a student at The Neighborhood Playhouse.

Signed by MGM Pictures as a contract player in 1945, until MGM canceled its contract-player program in 1948. Returning to New York, having met Kay Thompson at MGM, he became her "aide de camp", managing her nightclub act with the "Williams Brothers". Joining NBC-TV as a film cutter, editing commercial film ads for insertion into programming commercial breaks, Harbach remained as an editor for three years. He was promoted to stage manager, and then into directing. When The Tonight Show (1953) with Steve Allen was initiated, Harbach was working on the show. Allen didn't get along with his first producer and made Harbach his show producer. Kay Thompson was able to get one of her Williams Brothers, Andy Williams, signed as a permanent weekly musical performer on Allen's show.

William O. Harbach was born on October 12, 1919 in Yonkers, New York, USA as William Otto Harbach.