- Born
- Died
- Birth nameWilliam McElroy Dozier
- Nickname
- Bill
- William Dozier was an American TV and movie producer who made it to the
top of the TV heap briefly in the mid-1960s with his show
Batman (1966). Born on February 13, 1908
in Omaha, Nebraska, Dozier was also known for his wives. After
divorcing his first wife, he was married to Oscar-winner
Joan Fontaine from 1946 to 1951
and to movie star Ann Rutherford
from 1953 to his death on April 23, 1991.
In 1948, he and Fontaine launched Rampart Productions, which produced
Max Ophüls'
Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)
starring his wife, and
You Gotta Stay Happy (1948),
which starred Fontaine and
James Stewart. He served as
executive producer on both pictures.
Turning to TV as the new decade of the Fifties dawned, Dozier produced
the series Danger (1950), which ran
for five years from 1950-55. In the Fifties and Sixties, he continued
his career as a TV producer, bringing to the tube the short-lived TV
series
Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers (1953)
(1953), The Loner (1965) (1965).
In 1966, he achieved the height of TV success with "Batman" which ran
for three seasons and was a cultural sensation. The TV show spun off a
Batman: The Movie (1966) feature film. That same
year, he also launched , a modest success, and
The Tammy Grimes Show (1966),
a notorious flop that shot five episodes and was canceled after four.
Dozier retired as a producer after the 1969 movie _The Big Bounce
(1969) flopped, though he enjoyed a modest second career as an actor in
the Seventies and early Eighties.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Jon C. Hopwood
- SpousesAnn Rutherford(October 6, 1953 - April 23, 1991) (his death)Joan Fontaine(May 2, 1946 - January 25, 1951) (divorced, 1 child)Katherine Foley(September 14, 1929 - April 27, 1946) (divorced, 1 child)
- Children
- Used a different voice for his narration of crime-fighting shows.
- The use of word overlays during the fight scenes of Batman (1966).
- Tilted camera shots, often on villains.
- Quick costume-changes of heroes.
- Villians' own theme music.
- Not only produced Batman (1966), but also served
as the show's uncredited narrator, delivering the memorable sign-off, "Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel." On the 1966 Original Television
Soundtrack Album, for which he provided the liner notes, the
narrator is identified as "Desmond Doomsday". - Ex-brother-in-law of Olivia de Havilland.
- In the 1940s he was head of the Story Department at RKO.
- Ex-wife Joan Fontaine was the sister of Olivia de Havilland, who played Melanie in Gone with the Wind (1939). His widow, Ann Rutherford, played Carreen O'Hara, the sister of Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) in "GWTW".
- Was head of the writer's department at Paramount while such writers
as Billy Wilder and Preston Sturges wrote for the studio.
- [on Batman (1966)] As long as they write about the show I really couldn't care less what they have to say about it. Ahhh, criticism has never really bothered me; if you let it, as you well know, you can eat your heart out about every other morning for breakfast.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content