George Burditt (writer)

George Henry Burditt was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 29, 1923, to John and Dorothy Burditt.[1][2] He had one brother.[2] Burditt served in the United States Marine Corps in the Pacific Ocean during World War II.[1] After the war, he worked for American Greetings, a greetings cards manufacturer, in Cleveland, Ohio.[1] He married Joyce Rebeta-Burditt in the city on May 11, 1957, who later became also a writer.[2][3] Prior to their marriage, they both worked under the same manufacturer: Joyce was an employee writing verses for greeting cards, and George was her boss. She was fired from the company after working for three weeks.[3]

Burditt moved from Cleveland to Los Angeles to become a television writer.[1] Individually,[4] he wrote episodes of the first season of Doc (1975–76),[5] an episode of The Jeffersons titled "George vs. Wall Street" (1975), and episodes of its short-lived spinoffs The Ropers (1979–80) and Three's a Crowd (1984–85), the latter he also produced.[1] He also wrote sketches for variety shows that featured the Hudson Brothers,[6] Joey and Ray Heatherton,[7] Lola Falana,[8] and Sonny Bono.[9] He served as executive producer of—but did not write for—Silver Spoons and 227.[1]

Burditt and his writing partner Paul Wayne wrote an episode of All in the Family titled "Archie Eats and Runs" (1974)[10][11] and, alongside Aaron Ruben, a 1974 episode of Sanford and Son titled "The Way to Lamont's Heart".[10][12] They also mostly co-wrote the first three seasons (1977–79) of the television series Three's Company.[4] Burditt served as an executive producer of the series from 1981 to 1984.[1]

The writing crew, including Burditt and Paul Wayne,[4][10] received Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Writing for a Variety or Music Series in 1972[13] and 1974[14] for The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. The different writing crew, also including Burditt and Wayne, received an Emmy nomination for the same category in 1977 for Van Dyke and Company,[15] a short-lived variety show starring Dick Van Dyke. In 1976, one year prior, Burditt and other writers were Emmy-nominated for an Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Variety or Music Special for the preceding television special of the same name.[16] (Wayne was not listed among the writers of the special.[16])

Burditt and his wife Joyce had three children: sons Paul and Jack, and a daughter named Ellen.[2][17] Joyce later became a network executive and a mystery writer;[18] Jack is a television writer and producer.[1]

Burditt lived for 46 years in Burbank, California, and had nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, one of whom predeceased him. He died at age 89 on June 25, 2013, and was buried at San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, Los Angeles.[2]

• Lewellen, Scott (2013). Funny You Should Ask: Oral Histories of Classic Sitcom Storytellers. ISBN 978-0-7864-7148-5.
• Terrace, Vincent (1985). Encyclopedia of Television: Series, Pilots and Specials, Vol. 2: 1974–1984. New York Zoetrope. ISBN 0-918432-61-8.

• George Burditt at IMDb