William T. Orr

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For other people named William Orr, see William Orr (disambiguation).
William T. Orr
Born
William Ferdinand Quinn, Jr.

(1917-09-27)September 27, 1917
New York City, U.S.
DiedDecember 25, 2002(2002-12-25) (aged 85)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Occupation(s)film and television producer
actor
Years active1930s–1970s
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1945; div. 1970)​
Children2, including Gregory Orr
AwardsGolden Boot Award, 2002

William T. Orr (born William Ferdinand Quinn Jr.; September 27, 1917 – December 25, 2002)[1] was an American actor and television producer associated with various Western and detective programs of the 1950s-1970s. In most of his Warner Bros. series, he was billed as "Wm. T. Orr." Orr began his career as an actor; his film credits included The Mortal Storm, The Gay Sisters, and The Big Street.

Early years[edit]

Orr was the son of William Ferdinand Quinn, a stockbroker and alderman, and Gladys Quinn (née Turney), an actress, formerly Herrmann, later Orr, later Hall. [2] The Quinns divorced in 1923. Gladys later married two more times,[2] including to Morrison Boal Orr, "heir to the Orr Felt & Blanket Company fortune". After the marriage, the son became known as William Turney Orr. He had a half-sister, Maury, who later worked as a TV director.[1]

Orr was educated at the Coburn School in Miami, Rumsey Hall School, and Phillips Exeter Academy.[1] In 1934, he was elected as a member of the Christian Fraternity Cabinet, "a board of twelve students prominent in school activities" at Phillips Exeter".[3] When he was 18, he moved with his half-sister and his divorced mother to Los Angeles. He worked as a model,[4] studied acting with Ben Bard, and performed in some plays. An agent arranged a screen test for Orr, but it was unsuccessful.[1]

Acting career[edit]

Orr imitated celebrities in Bard's revue, Hit Parade, (1938) and acted in George and Margaret at the Little Theatre for Professionals of Beverly Hills.[1] He appeared in another revue, Meet the People, in Los Angeles,[4] and portrayed a romantic interest of Ann Rutherford's character in The Hardys Ride High (1939).[1]

Warner Bros. signed Orr to a $300-per-week contract, but he acted more for other studios when he was loaned out than he did for Warner Bros. He primarily made short films for his home studio, while he appeared in nearly 20 films overall from 1938 to 1943.[4]

During World War II he was an officer in the Army Air Force. He was assigned to the First Motion Picture Unit, and he appeared in training films.[4]

Production career[edit]

As the first head of Warner Bros. Television department, Orr forged a fruitful alliance with ABC, which resulted in the network having a number of prime time hits, such as Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, and F Troop. At the height of this relationship in the early 1960s, Orr had nine programs in prime time simultaneously.[citation needed]

Of these, though, no program was more significant than one of his earliest, Cheyenne. It was a groundbreaking series that was both the first hour-long western and the first series of any kind made by a major Hollywood film studio consisting entirely of content wholly exclusive to television.[citation needed]

A curator at The Paley Center for Media (previously The Museum of Television and Radio) once encapsulated Orr's importance to Warner Bros. by saying, "Television began as a step-child. But because of Orr, it became equal with film in creating revenue and jobs for the studio."[5] One of the key reforms he made to effect this change was to move Warner's nascent television department from cramped quarters in New York City to Los Angeles studios separate from the film division.[6]

Orr's responsibilities at Warner Bros. expanded on February 28, 1961, when he was named vice president in charge of motion pictures in addition to continuing his duties with TV programs.[7]

Despite broadly positive posthumous recognition for his work as a whole, Orr did receive negative press during the height of his career—as well as afterwards—for his business practices. Time Magazine characterized Orr and Jack Warner as co-architects of unfair contracts during late-1950s pay disputes waged by Warner Bros. star television actors Clint Walker, James Garner, and Edd Byrnes.[8] Orr's series were also noted for the cost-saving practice of recycling scripts from one series to another, switching only character names; during a writers' strike, such repurposed scripts were credited to "W. Hermanos".[9]

Orr's star dimmed by 1963, as almost all of his series had run their course and had been cancelled. In 1963, towards the end of the 5th season, Jack Webb replaced Orr as executive producer of ABC's 77 Sunset Strip detective series. For the 6th season, Webb completely changed the theme song and format and retained only Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., in the role of Stuart Bailey. The revision was a disaster, and the program was cancelled even prior to the end of the sixth season.[citation needed]

Orr was hired by Frank Sinatra's Essex Productions, and continued as a television producer through 1966, including a stint as the executive producer of the first season of F Troop. After 1966, his only production credit was on the 1973 film Wicked, Wicked.

Personal life and death[edit]

Orr married Jack L. Warner's stepdaughter Joy Page in 1945. The couple divorced in 1970.[4] They had a daughter, Diane,[4] and their son Gregory Orr is a writer and producer.

A stroke left Orr unable to speak or walk. On December 25, 2002, Orr died of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles. He was buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles.[1]

Honours[edit]

In 1994, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.[10] In August 2002,[1] Orr was named as a recipient of a Golden Boot Award for his involvement with Western productions.[11]

An elementary school and street in Norwalk, California, are named for him.[citation needed]

Filmography[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1938 Touchdown, Army Cadet Beale Uncredited
1938 Brother Rat Member of the Guard Uncredited
1939 The Hardys Ride High Dick Bannersly
1939 Invitation to Happiness Bellboy Uncredited
1940 Those Were the Days! Minor Role Uncredited
1940 The Mortal Storm Erich Von Rohn
1940 My Love Came Back Paul Malette
1941 Honeymoon for Three Arthur Westlake
1941 Thieves Fall Out George Formsby
1941 Three Sons o' Guns Kenneth Patterson
1941 Navy Blues Mac
1941 Unholy Partners Thomas 'Tommy' Jarvis - an alias of Tommy Jarrett
1942 The Gay Sisters Dick Tone
1942 The Big Street Decatur Reed
1943 He Hired the Boss Don Bates

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "William T. Orr". Films of the Golden Age (103): 47–48. Winter 2020.
  2. ^ a b Profile, imdb.com. Accessed August 9, 2023.
  3. ^ "Phillips Exeter Honors 2 Boys". The New York Times. May 8, 1934. p. 7. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f McLellan, Dennis (December 28, 2002). "William Orr, 85; Had Hit TV Shows in 1950s, '60s for Warner Bros". Los Angeles Times. p. B 17. Retrieved October 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ The view of MoTR curator, Ron Simon.
  6. ^ "Top News, Latest headlines, Latest News, World News & U.S News - UPI.com". UPI. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  7. ^ "Warners Promotews W. T. Orr". The New York Times. March 1, 1961. p. 29. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  8. ^ Time (magazine) "'Unhappy People'—with Spurs". Time Magazine. 30 November 1959.
  9. ^ Weaver, Tom (2009-12-11). I Talked with a Zombie: Interviews with 23 Veterans of Horror and Sci-Fi Films and Television. ISBN 9780786452682.
  10. ^ Palm Springs Walk of Stars by date dedicated
  11. ^ "The Golden Boot Awards". The Golden Boot Awards. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.

External links[edit]

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