- Born
- Died
- Irving Brecher was born on January 17, 1914 in Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He was a producer and writer, known for Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), The People's Choice (1955) and Somebody Loves Me (1952). He was married to Norma Brecher and Eve Bennett. He died on November 17, 2008 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- SpousesNorma Brecher(1983 - November 17, 2008) (his death)Eve Bennett(April 1, 1938 - 1981) (her death)
- American radio writer, who became a close friend of Groucho Marx and went on to script two classic Marx Brothers comedies (At the Circus (1939) and Go West (1940). Brecher jokingly referred to "Go West" "as the longest short ever made". He began his career as an usher at a Manhattan movie theater. A critic from "Variety" magazine told him that he could earn money writing jokes for comedians and he consequently moved to Hollywood in 1937. He wrote gags for Milton Berle and worked at MGM for some time, afterwards creating, producing and writing the popular radio sitcom "The Life of Riley" and then turning it into a feature film and a TV series.
- Profiled in "The Laugh Crafters: Comedy Writing in Radio and TV's Golden Age" by Jordan Young (BearManor Media).
- Talks about considering Lon Chaney Jr. for the top role in TV's "The Life of Riley" in the book "A Sci-Fi Swarm and Horror Horde" (McFarland & Co., 2010) by Tom Weaver.
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