William Dozier

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)" and "The Loner (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.

Works

Joker: Put on a Happy Face

Featuring interviews with filmmakers and industry legends, discover the origins and evolution of The Joker, and learn why The Clown Prince of Crime is universally hailed as the greatest comic-book supervillain of all time.

Release Date: 2020-08-18

Character: Self (archive footage)

Vote Count: 45

Be Water

In 1971, after being rejected by Hollywood, Bruce Lee returned to his parents’ homeland of Hong Kong to complete four iconic films. Charting his struggles between two worlds, this portrait explores questions of identity and representation through the use of rare archival footage, interviews with loved ones and Bruce’s own writings.

Release Date: 2020-01-25

Character: Self (archive footage)

Vote Count: 51

Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1

Even big stars need to stand in front of the director and audition for their roles, and some of the best screen tests are from the early years of legends. See some of Hollywood's top names and greatest talents in their very first appearances on celluloid. From Dustin Hoffman's 1966 stock and personality tests to Raquel Welch and James Coburn cavorting for Our Man Flint, from The Three Stooges to Rock Hudson, see stars trying to get on film.

Release Date: 1999-01-01

Character: Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

The RKO Story: Tales From Hollywood

Ed Asner tells the story of RKO Pictures from the 1920s to the 1960s.

Release Date: 1987-07-03

Character: Self

Episode Count: 1

Vote Count: 1

Not Just Another Affair

A lady marine biologist, determined to save herself until marriage, meets a handsome attorney who is not used to being rejected sexually, and it becomes a battle of wills as to who will emerge the winner.

Release Date: 1982-10-01

Character: Julius Thompkins

Vote Count: 3

Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones

The story of the Peoples Temple led by Jim Jones and the 1978 mass suicide at Jonestown.

Release Date: 1980-04-15

Character: Mr. Caldwell

Episode Count: 2

Vote Count: 21

American Gigolo

Julian makes a lucrative living as an escort to older women in the Los Angeles area. He begins a relationship with Michelle, a local politician's wife, without expecting any pay. One of his clients is murdered and Detective Sunday begins pumping him for details on his different clients, something he is reluctant to do considering the nature of his work. Julian begins to suspect he's being framed. Meanwhile Michelle begins to fall in love with him.

Release Date: 1980-02-01

Character: Michelle's Lawyer

Vote Count: 669

Crisis in Mid-Air

The life of a stressed-out air controller falls apart as he battles a court case involving a mid-air collision for which an investigator is trying to hold him responsible.

Release Date: 1979-02-13

Character: Chairman

Vote Count: 1

Evening in Byzantium

While the prestigious Cannes Film Festival goes on around him, American movie producer Jesse Craig struggles to develop a pitch-worthy thriller about a terrorist plot. Before long, Craig becomes concerned that a shocking act of real-life terrorism already may be underway. Meanwhile, radical actor Bret Easton works in cahoots with a group of extremists to coordinate the hijacking of a trio of passenger planes in a devastating, multi-city nuclear attack.

Release Date: 1978-08-14

Character: William Bast

The Amazing Howard Hughes

The Amazing Howard Hughes is a 1977 television movie about American aviation pioneer and filmmaker Howard Hughes, based on the book by Hughes' business partner Noah Dietrich. The film starred Tommy Lee Jones, Ed Flanders, and Tovah Feldshuh.

Release Date: 1977-04-13

Character: Sen. Ferguson

Vote Count: 9

Eight Is Enough

Eight Is Enough is an American television comedy-drama series that ran on ABC from March 15, 1977, until August 29, 1981. The show was modeled after syndicated newspaper columnist Thomas Braden, a real-life parent with eight children, who wrote a book with the same name.

Release Date: 1977-03-15

Episode Count: 1

Vote Count: 31

Mission to Glory: A True Story

Father Kino , a 17th-century Jesuit missionary, dedicated his life to helping Native Americans in the Southwest by teaching them agricultural skills as well as building missions and spreading Christianity. An explorer, astronomer and map maker, Father Kino surmounted numerous challenges as he journeyed through California, Arizona and Mexico.

Release Date: 1977-01-01

Character: Father Argula

Vote Count: 1

Guilty or Innocent: The Sam Sheppard Murder Case

The story of Dr. Sam Sheppard, an Ohio doctor convicted of murdering his wife, despite his vehement denials of the crime.

Release Date: 1975-11-17

Character: Dr. Richard Sheppard, Sr.

The Big Bounce

A Vietnam veteran and ex-con is persuaded by a shady woman to rob a $50,000 payroll account on a California produce farm. But who is playing who?

Release Date: 1969-03-05

Department: Production

Job: Producer

Vote Count: 8

Dick Tracy - The Plot To Kill NATO

Dick Tracy must save a trio of ambassadors who have been kidnapped by Mr. Memory. Pilot for Dick Tracy TV show from Batman's William Dozier.

Release Date: 1967-09-01

Department: Production

Job: Executive Producer

Character: Narrator (voice)

Batgirl

At the Gotham City library, Barbara Gordon helps Bruce Wayne find a book on butterflies so he can prove a point to a friend, a millionaire explorer. As Bruce and his youthful ward, Dick Grayson, are leaving they spot the villainous Killer Moth and three of his henchmen and, suspecting they are up to no good, determine to return as their superhero alter-egos, Batman and Robin. While the Caped Crusaders are donning their costumes, the criminal quartet knock out the millionaire, lock Barbara in an alcove and prepare to spirit their victim away. When the Dynamic Duo attempt to capture the crooks, they are encased in Killer Moth's silk cocoon. Is this the end of our Gotham City heroes? And why does a beautiful librarian have a cowl and a cape hanging in a convenient closet?

Release Date: 1967-01-01

Department: Production

Job: Executive Producer

Character: Narrator (voice)

Vote Count: 8

The Green Hornet

The Green Hornet is a television series on the ABC US television network that aired for the 1966–1967 TV season starring Van Williams as the Green Hornet/Britt Reid and Bruce Lee as Kato.

Release Date: 1966-09-09

Department: Production

Job: Producer

Character: Narrator

Episode Count: 26

Vote Count: 68

The Tammy Grimes Show

Release Date: 1966-09-08

Department: Production

Job: Producer

Episode Count: 10

Vote Count: 2

Batman

The Dynamic Duo faces four super-villains who plan to hold the world for ransom with the help of a secret invention that instantly dehydrates people.

Release Date: 1966-07-30

Department: Production

Job: Producer

Character: Narrator / Bat-Computer (voice) (uncredited)

Vote Count: 964

Batman

Wealthy entrepreneur Bruce Wayne and his ward Dick Grayson lead a double life: they are actually crime fighting duo Batman and Robin. A secret Batpole in the Wayne mansion leads to the Batcave, where Police Commissioner Gordon often calls with the latest emergency threatening Gotham City. Racing to the scene of the crime in the Batmobile, Batman and Robin must (with the help of their trusty Bat-utility-belt) thwart the efforts of a variety of master criminals, including The Riddler, The Joker, Catwoman, and The Penguin.

Release Date: 1966-01-12

Department: Production

Job: Producer

Character: Narrator (voice)

Episode Count: 120

Vote Count: 546

The Loner

The Loner is an American western series that ran for less than one season on CBS from 1965 to 1966, under the alternate sponsorship of Philip Morris and Procter & Gamble.

Release Date: 1965-09-18

Department: Production

Job: Producer

Episode Count: 26

Vote Count: 3

Stage Struck

A young woman arrives in New York City determined to become a great theatrical star, but discovers that her goal may not be as easily attainable as she had hoped.

Release Date: 1958-04-22

Department: Production

Job: Executive Producer

Vote Count: 14

Back from Eternity

A South American plane loaded with an assortment of characters crash lands in a remote jungle area in the middle of a storm. The passengers then discover they are in an area inhabited by vicious cannibals and must escape before they are found. A remake of Five Came Back (1939).

Release Date: 1956-09-07

Department: Production

Job: Executive Producer

Vote Count: 24

Death Is My Neighbor

A New York City apartment building supervisor has his job and home threatened by a new tenant.

Release Date: 1953-08-25

Department: Production

Job: Executive Producer

Vote Count: 2

Two of a Kind

A con woman and a lawyer get a carnival grifter to pose as an elderly rich couple's long-lost son.

Release Date: 1951-07-01

Department: Production

Job: Producer

Vote Count: 12

Harriet Craig

A perfectionist woman's devotion to her home drives away friends and family.

Release Date: 1950-11-02

Department: Production

Job: Producer

Vote Count: 26

You Gotta Stay Happy

Indecisive heiress Dee Dee Dillwood is pushed into marrying her sixth fiancée, but unable to face the wedding night, she flees into the adjacent hotel room of commercial pilot Marvin Payne, who just wants to sleep. She then persuades him to take her to California.

Release Date: 1948-10-28

Department: Production

Job: Executive Producer

Vote Count: 13

Letter from an Unknown Woman

A pianist about to flee from a duel receives a letter from a woman he cannot remember. As she tells the story of her lifelong love for him, he is forced to reinterpret his own past.

Release Date: 1948-04-28

Department: Production

Job: Executive Producer

Vote Count: 307

Slave Girl

Tongue-in-cheek adventure tale of an American attempting to free sailors held as hostages and becoming involved in middle-East tribal wars.

Release Date: 1947-07-17

Department: Production

Job: Producer

Vote Count: 1