George Burditt (writer)

George Henry Burditt was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 29, 1923, to John and Dorothy Burditt.[1][2] He had one brother.[2] Burditt served in the United States Marine Corps in the Pacific Ocean during World War II.[1] After the war, he worked for American Greetings, a greetings cards manufacturer, in Cleveland, Ohio,[1] and married his former employee Joyce Rebeta-Burdett on May 11, 1957.[2][3]

Burditt moved from Cleveland to Los Angeles to become a television writer.[1] Burditt, with his writing partner Paul Wayne[4][5] and other writers, received three Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Writing for a Variety or Music Series. The nominations were received in 1972[6] and 1974[7] for The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, and in 1977 for Van Dyke and Company,[8] a variety show starring Dick Van Dyke. Burditt and Wayne mostly co-wrote the first three seasons (1977–79) of the television series Three's Company,[5] and Burditt served as an executive producer of the series from 1981 to 1984.[1] They also wrote an episode of All in the Family titled "Archie Eats and Runs" (1974)[9] and, along with Aaron Ruben, a 1974 episode of Sanford and Sontitled "The Way to Lamont's Heart".[10]

Individually[5] or with other writers, in 1976, Burditt was nominated for an Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Variety or Music Special Emmy for the television special Van Dyke and Company,[11] a predecessor to the short-lived television series of the same name. Burditt also wrote episodes of its short-lived spinoffs The Ropers (1979–80) and Three's a Crowd (1984–85)—which he also produced—[1] the first season of Doc (1975–76)[12] and an episode of The Jeffersons[1] titled "George vs. Wall Street" (1975). Burditt also wrote sketches for variety shows that featured the Hudson Brothers,[13] Joey and Ray Heatherton,[14] Lola Falana [15] and Sonny Bono,[16] and was executive producer of—but did not write for—Silver Spoons and 227.[1]

Burditt and his wife Joyce had three children: sons Paul and Jack, and a daughter named Ellen.[2][17] Joyce later became a network executive and a mystery writer;[18] Jack is a television writer and producer.[1]

Burditt lived for 46 years in Burbank, California, and had nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, one of whom predeceased him. Burditt died at age 89 on June 25, 2013, and was buried at San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, Los Angeles.[2]

• Lewellen, Scott (2013). Funny You Should Ask: Oral Histories of Classic Sitcom Storytellers. ISBN 978-0-7864-7148-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Terrace, Vincent (1985). "Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials". Encyclopedia of Television: Series, Pilots and Specials. 1974–1984 (Volume 2). New York Zoetrope. ISBN 0-918432-61-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

• George Burditt at IMDb