Richard Collins (screenwriter): Difference between revisions

'''Richard J. Collins''' (July 20, 1914 – February 14, 2013) was an American producer, director and screenwriter prominent in Hollywood during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He worked on several notable television programs including ''[[Bonanza]]'', ''[[General Electric Theater]]'', ''[[Matlock (1986 TV series)|Matlock]]'' and ''[[Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre]]''. He was married to actress [[Dorothy Comingore]] from 1939 until 1945. One of the characters in the film ''[[Guilty by Suspicion]]'' was based on his character although he and Dorothy Comingore were long divorced before the HUAC hearings.

In 1935, Collins returned to Los Angeles where he took a job at [[Bloomingdale's]] while looking for a way into the movie and television industry. His' first position was as a script reader at [[Columbia Pictures]], where he stayed for a few months before he was offered a junior writer position at [[20th Century Fox|Fox]]. During the 1930s, Collins would work for some of the biggest studios in Hollywood, including [[RKO Pictures]], [[Universal Pictures|Universal Studios]], [[Paramount Pictures]], [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] and [[Warner Bros.]] He wrote or co-wrote many screenplays during this period, including some that would get him in trouble with HUAC in later years, like ''[[Song of Russia]]''.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

Collins's first screen credit after clearing his name with HUAC was on the 1953 film [[China Venture]], directed by [[Don Siegel]], for whom he would later write several more films. He was subsequently hired by producer [[Walter Wanger]] to write ''[[The Adventures of Hajji Baba]]'' and ''[[Riot in Cell Block 11]]'' (the latter also directed by Siegel). He wrote an early treatment for the Wanger-produced and Siegel-directed cult film ''[[Invasion of the Body Snatchers]]'', but was not credited on the completed film. His later feature film credits included ''[[Pay or Die]]'', ''[[Spanish Affair (1957 film)|Spanish Affair]]'' and ''[[The Badlanders]]''. Later he wrote for television, including ''General Electric Theater'', ''87th Precinct'', and ''Remington Steele''. In 1963 he became a television producer for the TV series ''Breaking Point'', followed by ''Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theater''. His big break came when he became producer of the television series ''Bonanza''. In 1976, he was the executive producer of the short-lived western series ''[[Sara (U.S. 1976 TV series)|Sara]]''. The final major production that he worked on was the series ''[[Matlock (1986 TV series)|Matlock]]'' in the 1980s.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

Collins died at the age of 98 on February 14, 2013.<ref>{{cite news|author=[[Ronald Bergan]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/feb/20/richard-collins |title=Richard Collins obituary &#124; Film &#124; guardian.co.uk |publisher=Guardian |date= February 20, 2013|accessdate=February 21, 2013 |location=London}}</ref> He is survived by his son Michael Collins and daughter Judith Collins.

*[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036378/ "The Song of Russia"]. IMDBIMDb.com. July 12, 2011.