Geller, Bruce, 1930-1978

Geller was born in NY, Oct. 13, 1930; graduated Yale Univ. (1952); created, produced, or wrote for many television series including The Dick Powell show, Zane Grey theatre, The rifleman, The rebel, Dr. Kildare, Rawhide, The Westerner, Mannix, and Mission impossible; made his motion picture debut with Sail a crooked ship (1962); formed Cinema Video Communications, Inc. along with Alden Schwimmer, Harold Robbins, and Blake Edwards; died May 21, 1978 in an airplane crash outside Santa Barbara, CA.

Biography

Bruce Geller was born in NY, Oct. 13, 1930. He graduated from Yale Univ. (1952) where he studied psychology and sociology and was involved in many activities including theatre. After graduating from college, he moved to Hollywood where he worked for a year as a reader at Warner Brothers. After marrying Jeannetter Marx, he moved to New York City where he sold his first script to the live NY television show, Jimmy Hughes, Rookie Cop . This lead to other writing assignments for shows such as Rocky King, Detective and Flash Gordon . During this same time period he was collaborating on the musical comedy Livin' The Life, based on Mark Twain's stories of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.

In 1956, he sold a script to Kaiser Aluminum Hour, which led to his move back to Hollywood where he wrote regularly for such series as The Dick Powell Show, Zane Grey Theatre, The Rifleman, The Rebel, Dr. Kildare, Rawhide, and The Westerner . In 1962 he produced the Dick Powell Show and co-wrote his first major motion picture, Sail A Crooked Ship (Columbia, 1962). While producing Rawhide in the mid-1960s, he developed the idea for a new "cloak-and-dagger" series, Mission Impossible. The series saw great success during its seven seasons and garnerd Geller an Emmy as both writer and producer. During the second season of Mission Impossible, Geller created a second succssful television series, Mannix which won him a Golden Globe Award in 1971.

He formed Cinema Video Communications, Inc. along with Alden Schwimmer, Harold Robbins, and Blake Edwards. He died May 21, 1978 in an airplane crash outside Santa Barbara, CA.