James Komack (3 August 1924 – 24 December 1997) was an American actor, writer and producer. Komack was in the original cast of the Broadway musical Damn Yankees and also in the film version; in both productions, he was one of the baseball players who perform the song "(You Gotta Have) Heart". Komack also appeared in Frank Capra's film A Hole in the Head, as the son of the character played by Edward G. Robinson and nephew of the character played by Frank Sinatra.
Komack was the guiding force behind such television hits as The Courtship of Eddie's Father, in which he also appeared as Norman Tinker, Chico and the Man, and Welcome Back, Kotter. Komack is credited with discovering and launching the careers of John Travolta and Freddie Prinze. Early in his career, Komack worked as a stand up comedian and also appeared as a regular in the series Hennesey. He also made a record album of his routine, James Komack at the Waldorf. He also recorded an album on RCA Victor in 1957 of music, not a comedy album, titled "Inside Me", under the orchestra direction of Dennis Farnon, RCA LPM-1501. He was director of the original Star Trek episode "A Piece of the Action".
Komack died Christmas Eve 1997 from heart failure.
References
"James Komack Biography (1930-1997)". filmreference (2008). Retrieved on 2008-06-11.
All Movie Guide (2008). "James Komack", The New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-06-14.
Widely believed to be the illegitimate son of Milton Berle. In his autobiograhpy Berle describes an encounter with the producer of a hit 1970's show, (probably Welcome Back Kotter) and got pitched for a role in another series (probably "The Man" in Chico in the Man). Berle said he didn't know the guy already had a hit show and was probably trying to hustle him to get a leg up as a producer. He wrote that it wasn't until later that he learned that this was the illegitimate son for whome he had pined for ever since he'd had an affair with a would-be movie starlet back in the 20's. By the time he came around, the role was cast with someone else - probably Jack Albertson.
External links
James Komack at Find A Grave
James Komack at the Internet Movie Database
James Komack article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki
James Komack at TV.com
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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Komack"
Categories: 1924 births | 1997 deaths | American actors | American television directors | American television producers | American screenwriters | Deaths from cardiovascular disease
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