Malibu resident Sol Saks’ mother advised him to follow his brothers and join the family’s paint business. But the author of “Do Not Go Gentle,” which will be read this Saturday at Malibu Stage Co., decided to take on the hard work of comedy writing.
The Malibu Times Staff
“If you’re good, you’re anonymous-if you’re bad, you get fired!”
So says Sol Saks, veteran TV and film writer, about the fate of comedy writers of early radio and TV shows. Saks, whose play “Do Not Go Gentle” will be the last in a series of readings at Malibu Stage Co., has never been fired.
Saks has had one of the most successful writing careers in TV history. The Malibu writer has created five award-winning TV series: “My Favorite Husband,” with Joan Caulfield and Barry Nelson; “Mr. Adams and Eve” with Ida Lupino and Howard Duff, and “Bewitched” starring Elizabeth Montgomery. And of his many films, the one he likes best is “Walk, Don’t Run,” with Cary Grant.
Still, for all his comedy success, he wants to be called just a “writer.” Although he admits the field of comedy is a more dependable means of support, it is his belief that the authors of drama are better writers. Because he would not compromise his principals in order to earn a living by taking on projects he didn’t believe in, the writing community “thought I must be rich and concluded that I didn’t need the money,” mused the writer.
Saks began his writing career in Chicago as a comedy writer on the legendary radio show, “Duffy’s Tavern.” He recalled, “I worked as head writer on the show for one year and no one knew me! That was radio and it was live. We usually worked all seven days of the week and often, all night. It was hard work.”
When his mother visited the show and saw how hard he was working, she advised her son, “You should stick to the paint business like your brothers.”
The family owned a string of paint stores in Chicago, but Saks wanted to be a serious writer, to be independent. Though writing comedy was hard work, he did not return to the family business.
In the early days of radio all the shows came out of Chicago, New York and Hollywood.
“When William Morris, the agency sponsoring ‘Duffy’s,’ wanted someone to write for the ‘Red Skelton’ show in Hollywood, they asked me,” Saks said.
Soon he was assigned to write a pilot episode for a new TV series, “My Favorite Husband.” It became an instant hit.
“That was the beginning,” said the author. “I’ve been here ever since.”
In the ’60s and ’70s, seven out of 10 TV shows were sitcoms. Saks wrote five of them. Probably the show the wiry and gentle writer is most known for is “Bewitched.”
“We were looking for a gimmick, a ‘signal’ we needed as a cue for the first show. Lucky for us Elizabeth could actually twitch her nose,” Saks recalled wryly. “We were blown away. It was heaven sent.”
Eventually Saks led the CBS comedy division as executive producer and served as consultant in subsequent years for the network and for two separate terms at the Denmark Television Network. In addition, Saks taught scriptwriting as an associate professor at California State University, Northridge and Pepperdine University, and authored “The Craft of Comedy Writing,” published by Lone Eagle, which is currently used at universities and libraries.
After 25 years in Malibu, Saks in bringing his play, “Do Not Go Gentle” to the Malibu Stage Co. Saturday night, 8 p.m. The title comes from a Dylan Thomas poem:
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
His play is what Saks calls a comedy drama, involving two spirited seniors in an upscale retirement complex who fall in love. The play touches on all the same problems that confront the social world they left behind.
Reservations are recommended and can be obtained by calling 310.589.1998. Tickets are $10. Complimentary wine is offered before the 8 p.m. performance. Malibu Stage is located at 29243 Pacific Coast Highway just north of Kanan Dume Road.