Norman Abbott (July 11, 1922 – July 9, 2016) was an American vaudevillian, actor, producer and television director. Abbott was born in New York City, where his uncle, comedian Bud Abbott, and his mother raised him. His early experience in entertainment was as a vaudeville performer, including summers working the 'borscht circuit" in resorts in the Catskill Mountains of New York. In the early 1940s, he and Pat Costello (brother of Lou Costello) worked as stand-ins for the better-known act during filming of Who Done It? (1942).[3] During World War II, Abbott served as a member of the original United States Navy SEALs team. After the war, Abbott became a dialog director on the Abbott and Costello films and was mentored by the team's director, Charles T. Barton. Abbott later directed episodes of The Jack Benny Program, Leave It to Beaver, Get Smart, The Munsters, Welcome Back, Kotter, Dennis the Menace, and Sanford and Son. Abbott's obituary in The Hollywood Reporter described him as "the brainchild behind the Broadway sensation Sugar Babies, the comeback vehicle for Mickey Rooney in the late 1970s". He conceived the idea of a Broadway musical based on burlesque after inheriting his uncle's "treasure trove of burlesque material, including written gags, props, music and posters".[4] Despite his having originated the concept, Abbott was fired as director of the show after two weeks of rehearsing.
Walking My Baby Back Home
(Doc)
Empire of the Censors
(Self)
Keep 'Em Slugging
(Ape)
The Affairs of Martha
(Newsboy (uncredited))
Grand Central Murder
(Whistling Messenger (uncredited))
Rio Rita
(Hotel Laundry Boy (uncredited))
Who Done It?
('Murder at Midnight' Organist)
Anything Goes
(Radio Announcer)
The Colgate Comedy Hour
(Self)
The Last of the Secret Agents?
(Director)
The Last of the Secret Agents?
(Story)
The Last of the Secret Agents?
(Producer)
The All-Star Christmas Show
(Director)
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein
(Dialogue Coach)
Father Knows Best: Home for Christmas
(Director)
The Munsters
(Director)
Alice
(Director)
Angie
(Director)
Charles in Charge
(Director)
Love, American Style
(Director)
Blondie
(Director)
When Things Were Rotten
(Director)
Nanny and the Professor
(Director)
Welcome Back, Kotter
(Director)
That's My Mama
(Director)
Room 222
(Director)
Fish
(Director)
Dennis the Menace
(Director)
The Brady Bunch
(Director)
Bachelor Father
(Director)
McHale's Navy
(Director)
Get Smart
(Director)
Karen
(Director)
Sanford and Son
(Director)
Adam-12
(Director)
California Fever
(Director)
Leave It to Beaver
(Director)
Working Stiffs
(Director)
Nobody's Perfect
(Director)
I'm Dickens, He's Fenster
(Director)