Theodore J. Flicker

June 06, 1930

Theodore Jonas Flicker (June 6, 1930 – September 12, 2014) was an American playwright, theatrical producer, television and film director, actor, television writer, screenwriter, author, and sculptor. Born in 1930 at Freehold Borough, New Jersey, Flicker attended Admiral Farragut Academy in Tom's River, New Jersey from 1947 to 1949. From 1949 to 1951, he studied at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, alongside fellow drama students Joan Collins and Larry Hagman. In 1954, he became a member of Chicago's Compass Theater, America's first theater of improvisational comedy. Eventually, he worked as producer, director, and performer with the Compass Players in St. Louis. The company was such a success that he was able to raise money to establish the Crystal Palace Theater, then the only monthly repertory stage in the country. In 1959, he wrote the book for and directed the Broadway musical The Nervous Set. Fran Landesman provided the lyrics, and Tommy Wolf the musical score. The show was revived in 2006. In 1960, he established The Premise on New York's Bleecker Street in a basement venue, where he initially appeared alongside Tom Aldredge, George Segal, and Joan Darling. Over the next few years, openings would be filled by performers such as James Frawley, Buck Henry, Gene Hackman, Sandy Baron, Al Mancini, Garry Goodrow, George Furth, Cynthia Harris, Peter Bonerz, Mina Kolb, Michael Howard, and Sandra Seacat (as Sandra Kaufman). The show eventually transferred to the Comedy Theatre in London's West End. A follow-up improvisational satire, The Premise in Living Color, targeted racism and featured Godfrey Cambridge, Diana Sands, and Al Freeman Jr. Moving into motion pictures, Flicker directed and co-wrote (with Henry) the screenplay for his first film The Troublemaker in 1964. As a filmmaker, he is probably best known for his political lampoon The President's Analyst (1967) with James Coburn, although he cites Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang (1978) among his personal favorites. An occasional actor, he plays the first victim in Beware! The Blob! (1972), directed by Larry Hagman. He also rides at full gallop as Buffalo Bill Cody in The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981), the directorial debut of cinematographer William A. Fraker, who shot The President's Analyst. Flicker co-created the television series Barney Miller (1975). He also wrote and/or directed episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Andy Griffith Show, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Night Gallery, The Streets of San Francisco, and I Dream of Jeannie. Flicker appeared as the Devil in a 1971 episode of Night Gallery he wrote, called "Hell's Bells."