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IMDbPro

William Dozier(1908-1991)

  • Producer
  • Actor
  • Writer
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William Dozier in Batman (1966)
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 (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.
BornFebruary 13, 1908
DiedApril 23, 1991(83)
BornFebruary 13, 1908
DiedApril 23, 1991(83)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank

Known for

Bruce Lee and Van Williams in The Green Hornet (1966)
The Green Hornet
7.4
TV Series
  • Producer
Adam West, Cesar Romero, Frank Gorshin, Burgess Meredith, Lee Meriwether, and Burt Ward in Batman (1966)
Batman
6.5
  • Producer
  • 1966
Richard Gere in American Gigolo (1980)
American Gigolo
6.3
  • Michelle's Lawyer
  • 1980
Yvonne De Carlo, Broderick Crawford, George Brent, and Andy Devine in Slave Girl (1947)
Slave Girl
5.2
  • Producer("Humpy the Camel" scenes)
  • 1947

Credits

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IMDbPro

Producer

  • The Big Bounce (1969)
    The Big Bounce
  • Batman (1966)
    Batman
  • Ellie Wood Walker in Wonder Woman: Who's Afraid of Diana Prince? (1967)
    Wonder Woman: Who's Afraid of Diana Prince?
  • Dick Tracy (1967)
    Dick Tracy
  • Batgirl (1967)
    Batgirl
  • Vacation Playhouse (1963)
    Vacation Playhouse
  • Bruce Lee and Van Williams in The Green Hornet (1966)
    The Green Hornet
  • The Tammy Grimes Show (1966)
    The Tammy Grimes Show
  • Jeffrey Hunter and Sally Ann Howes in Journey Into Fear (1966)
    Journey Into Fear
  • Adam West, Cesar Romero, Frank Gorshin, Burgess Meredith, Lee Meriwether, and Burt Ward in Batman (1966)
    Batman
  • The Loner (1965)
    The Loner
  • Henry Fonda in Stage Struck (1958)
    Stage Struck
    • (uncredited)
  • Anita Ekberg and Robert Ryan in Back from Eternity (1956)
    Back from Eternity
    • (uncredited)
  • Ella Raines in Janet Dean, Registered Nurse (1954)
    Janet Dean, Registered Nurse
  • Cliff Robertson in Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers (1953)
    Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers

Actor

  • Victoria Principal and Gil Gerard in Not Just Another Affair (1982)
    Not Just Another Affair
  • Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980)
    Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones
  • Richard Gere in American Gigolo (1980)
    American Gigolo
  • The Paper Chase (1973)
    The Paper Chase
  • Crisis in Mid-air (1979)
    Crisis in Mid-air
  • Evening in Byzantium (1978)
    Evening in Byzantium
  • Willie Aames, Betty Buckley, Grant Goodeve, Dianne Kay, Connie Needham, Lani O'Grady, Adam Rich, Susan Richardson, Dick Van Patten, and Laurie Walters in Eight Is Enough (1977)
    Eight Is Enough
  • The Amazing Howard Hughes (1977)
    The Amazing Howard Hughes
  • Mission to Glory: A True Story (1976)
    Mission to Glory: A True Story
  • Guilty or Innocent: The Sam Sheppard Murder Case (1975)
    Guilty or Innocent: The Sam Sheppard Murder Case
  • James Brolin, Robert Young, and Elena Verdugo in Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969)
    Marcus Welby, M.D.
  • Robert Forster, David Birney, and Richard E. Kalk in Police Story (1973)
    Police Story
  • Love, American Style (1969)
    Love, American Style
  • James Daly in Medical Center (1969)
    Medical Center
  • Batman (1966)
    Batman

Writer

  • William Shatner, Adam West, Julie Newmar, and Burt Ward in Batman vs. Two-Face (2017)
    Batman vs. Two-Face
  • Adam West and Burt Ward in Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders (2016)
    Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders
  • Batman (1966)
    Batman
    • (uncredited)
  • Adam West, Cesar Romero, Frank Gorshin, Burgess Meredith, Lee Meriwether, and Burt Ward in Batman (1966)
    Batman
    • (uncredited)
  • Studio One (1948)
    Studio One
  • Hal Baylor, Hans Conried, and Chuck Hicks in Schlitz Playhouse (1951)
    Schlitz Playhouse

Personal details

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    • February 13, 1908
    • Omaha, Nebraska, USA
    • April 23, 1991
    • Santa Monica, California, USA(stroke)
    • Ann RutherfordOctober 6, 1953 - April 23, 1991 (his death)
    • Debbie Dozier
    • Gloria May(Stepchild)
  • Other works
    Unsold pilot: In the late 1960s he wrote, produced and narrated a four-minute "pilot" film for a proposed Wonder Woman sitcom.

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    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".
  • Quotes
    [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.
    • Used a different voice for his narration of crime-fighting shows.

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