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IMDbPro

William T. Orr(1917-2002)

  • Producer
  • Actor
  • Writer
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William T. Orr
Trailer for this black and white classic
Play trailer2:29
Honeymoon for Three (1941)
1 Video
6 Photos
William Orr is known to fans of 1950s and 1960s TV shows by the abbreviated but imposing credit of Wm. T. Orr seen at the end of every Warner Bros. show including Maverick (1957), Cheyenne (1955), 77 Sunset Strip (1958) and F Troop (1965). As the head of WB Television for nine years, he was executive producer of the studio's early forays into the medium, helping to put ABC on the prime-time map with a steady staple of westerns and detective shows.

Orr began his career in 1936 as an actor, moving from his native New York to Los Angeles, where the good-looking young actor found work as a second lead opposite such stars as Lucille Ball, Henry Fonda, James Stewart and Edward G. Robinson. Orr had one advantage over the other handsome young actors of his era--he could imitate his betters and became known as a deft comic impersonator in the musical stage review "Meet The People", a Saturday Night Live (1975) of its day that mixed political satire and song, hosted by gossip columnist Louella Parsons. During World War II Orr served as an officer in the Army Air Force's First Motion Picture Unit, making training films at the former Hal Roach Studios in Culver City, California, alongside fellow actors Ronald Reagan, William Holden and Alan Ladd.

In 1945 Orr married Warner Bros. studio chief Jack L. Warner's stepdaughter Joy Page, assuring him a good seat at the Hollywood table. A year later be became one of Warner's assistants - one more opportunity for Hollywood wags to apply the old dig (first applied to Louis B. Mayer's son-in-law, David O. Selznick) "the son-in-law also rises." Orr had a nose for new talent, though, and, with a Warner Bros. contract in hand, pursued such unknown actors as James Dean, Paul Newman and Marlon Brando. In 1958 he was put in charge of Warners' fledgling TV division, and this is where he made his mark, having nine shows on the air in the early 1960s. In 1965 he left Warner Bros. in favor of independent production. He retired in the mid-'70s, walking away from the business.
BornSeptember 27, 1917
DiedDecember 25, 2002(85)
BornSeptember 27, 1917
DiedDecember 25, 2002(85)
IMDbProStarmeter
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  • Awards

Photos6

William T. Orr in Television (1988)
Edward G. Robinson, William T. Orr, Edward Arnold, and Marsha Hunt in Unholy Partners (1941)
William T. Orr, Richard L. Bare, and Randolph Roberts in Wicked, Wicked (1973)
Eddie Albert, William T. Orr, and Joan Leslie in Thieves Fall Out (1941)
William T. Orr, Tom Brown, Wayne Morris, and Irene Rich in Three Sons o' Guns (1941)

Known for

Edd Byrnes, Roger Smith, and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. in 77 Sunset Strip (1958)
77 Sunset Strip
7.7
TV Series
  • Producer
Robert Conrad, Anthony Eisley, Poncie Ponce, and Connie Stevens in Hawaiian Eye (1959)
Hawaiian Eye
7.8
TV Series
  • Producer
George Brent and Ann Sheridan in Honeymoon for Three (1941)
Honeymoon for Three
6.0
  • Arthur Westlake
  • 1941
Natalie Wood in Warner Brothers Presents (1955)
Warner Brothers Presents
7.7
TV Series
  • Producer(as Wm. T. Orr)

Credits

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IMDbPro

Producer

  • Tiffany Bolling and Randolph Roberts in Wicked, Wicked (1973)
    Wicked, Wicked
  • Barrie Chase and Roger Smith in the "Unwelcome Aboard" episode of "Mister Roberts."  (1966)
    Mister Roberts
  • Hank (1965)
    Hank
    • (as Wm. T. Orr)
  • Ken Berry, Melody Patterson, Larry Storch, and Forrest Tucker in F Troop (1965)
    F Troop
    • (as Wm. T. Orr)
  • Wendy and Me (1964)
    Wendy and Me
  • No Time for Sergeants (1964)
    No Time for Sergeants
  • Natalie Wood and Tony Curtis in Sex and the Single Girl (1964)
    Sex and the Single Girl
    • (as Wm. T. Orr)
  • Ready for the People (1964)
    Ready for the People
  • Temple Houston (1963)
    Temple Houston
  • Edd Byrnes, Roger Smith, and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. in 77 Sunset Strip (1958)
    77 Sunset Strip
  • Jack Elam, Chad Everett, Michael Greene, and Larry Ward in The Dakotas (1962)
    The Dakotas
    • (as Wm. T. Orr)
  • Robert Conrad, Anthony Eisley, Poncie Ponce, and Connie Stevens in Hawaiian Eye (1959)
    Hawaiian Eye
  • William Windom in The Gallant Men (1962)
    The Gallant Men
    • (as Wm. T. Orr)
  • Clint Walker in Cheyenne (1955)
    Cheyenne
  • Room for One More (1962)
    Room for One More

Actor

  • Land and Live in the Desert (1945)
    Land and Live in the Desert
    • (uncredited)
  • Three Cadets
  • Stuart Erwin and Evelyn Venable in He Hired the Boss (1943)
    He Hired the Boss
  • Henry Fonda, Lucille Ball, Agnes Moorehead, and Sam Levene in The Big Street (1942)
    The Big Street
    • (as William Orr)
  • Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Nancy Coleman, and Geraldine Fitzgerald in The Gay Sisters (1942)
    The Gay Sisters
  • Soldiers in White (1942)
    Soldiers in White
  • Edward G. Robinson, Edward Arnold, Laraine Day, and Marsha Hunt in Unholy Partners (1941)
    Unholy Partners
  • Kay Aldridge, Leslie Brooks, Georgia Carroll, Marguerite Chapman, Peggy Diggins, Jack Haley, Claire James, Jack Oakie, Martha Raye, and Ann Sheridan in Navy Blues (1941)
    Navy Blues
  • Those Good Old Days
  • William T. Orr, Tom Brown, Wayne Morris, and Irene Rich in Three Sons o' Guns (1941)
    Three Sons o' Guns
  • Eddie Albert, William T. Orr, and Joan Leslie in Thieves Fall Out (1941)
    Thieves Fall Out
  • Take the Air
  • George Brent and Ann Sheridan in Honeymoon for Three (1941)
    Honeymoon for Three
  • George Reeves and Herbert Anderson in Meet the Fleet (1940)
    Meet the Fleet
  • Service with the Colors (1940)
    Service with the Colors
    • (as William Orr)

Writer

  • Robert Conrad, Anthony Eisley, Poncie Ponce, and Connie Stevens in Hawaiian Eye (1959)
    Hawaiian Eye
    • (as Wm. T. Orr)
  • Natalie Wood in Warner Brothers Presents (1955)
    Warner Brothers Presents

Videos1

Honeymoon For Three
Trailer 2:29
Honeymoon For Three

Personal details

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    • September 27, 1917
    • New York City, New York, USA
    • December 25, 2002
    • Los Angeles, California, USA(natural causes)
    • Joy PageApril 10, 1945 - 1970 (divorced, 3 children)
    • Gregory Orr
    • Gladys Turney
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Pictorial

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    Father of Gregory Orr.

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