Robert Maxwell (producer)

For other people named Robert Maxwell, see Robert Maxwell (disambiguation).
Robert Maxwell
Born
Robert Maxwell Joffe

(1908-01-31)January 31, 1908
Brooklyn, New York
DiedFebruary 3, 1971(1971-02-03) (aged 63)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Other namesRobert Joffe Maxwell
Robert J. Maxwell
Robert Maxwell
Bob Maxwell
Richard Fielding
Claire Kennedy
Occupation(s)Radio and television producer, screenwriter
Spouses
  • Jessica Fielding Maxwell
  • Dusty Bruce Maxwell
  • Barbara Maxwell

Robert Maxwell Joffe (January 31, 1908 – February 3, 1971) was an American radio and television producer, screenwriter, and entertainment executive. He was one of the producers (and a writer and director) of The Adventures of Superman radio show and a producer of several TV series, including the early episodes of both Adventures of Superman (1951–1954) and Lassie (1954–1957; executive producer 1957-1958). Maxwell acquired the rights to Lassie in 1953 for $2,000 and sold the popular television program starring the collie to Jack Wrather in 1956 for a reported $3.5 million.[1]

He also was the producer of Creeps by Night (1944) on the Blue Network.[2]

He also wrote episodes of the Superman radio and TV series as Richard Fielding (a pseudonym that he shared with fellow producers Whitney Ellsworth and Maxwell's then wife, Jessica Fielding Maxwell).

Many early episodes of Lassie, as well as episodes of National Velvet, were written by Robert Maxwell under the pseudonym Claire Kennedy.[3][4][5]

At the time of his death in Toronto, Canada, he was married to Barbara Maxwell and had two sons.[1]

  1. ^ a b "Robert Maxwell of 'Lassie' Series". NY Times. February 5, 1971. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  2. ^ Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (Revised ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 183. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  3. ^ Catalog of Copyright Entries. Third Series. Vol. 8, Part 2, Number 1. The Library of Congress. January–June 1954. p. 43.
  4. ^ Richard Bowers (2012). Superman versus the Ku Klux Klan: The True Story of How the Iconic Superhero Battled the Men of Hate. National Geographic Society. p. 81. ISBN 9781426309175.
  5. ^ Michael J. Hayde (2013). Flights of Fantasy: The Unauthorized but True Story of Radio & TV's Adventures of Superman. BearManor Media. ISBN 9781426309175.