The Los Angeles Times ran an obit today for David Dotort, the creator of the 1960s/1970s TV western, who died in his sleep at the age of 93. The obit points out how effective the show was in selling color TVs in the 1960s. I had heard that detail before, but this gem from Dotort’s younger days really amazed me:
After completing his military duty stateside during World War II, he wrote two novels, including “Burial of the Fruit” (1949), which brought an invitation from actor Burt Lancaster to turn it into a screenplay. Dortort labored alongside another young novelist and CCNY graduate, Norman Mailer,who was trying to turn his debut work, “The Naked and the Dead,” into a movie.
Both screenplays were rejected. “To hear David tell the story, Norman said to hell with Hollywood and went back to New York … but David said, ‘I’d like to stick around and see if I can learn the art of screenplay writing,’ ” said Andrew J. Klyde, an attorney who knew Dortort for 20 years and oversees licensing and merchandising for “Bonanza.”
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