Schlatter was a Hollywood agent in the band and act department of
MCA Records. After several years, he left to become general manager at the
Sunset Strip nightclub Ciro's. The comedy team of
Dan Rowan and
Dick Martin performed there. In the early 1960s, following a short stint in
Las Vegas, he started producing variety series and specials for television. Between 1964 and 1970, he oversaw the annual telecast of the Grammy Awards. In 1968, he formed George Schlatter Productions, noted for Rowan and Martin's Laugh In on
NBC.[9]
In the 1970s and 1980s, Schlatter produced and directed several television series, while continuing to produce variety specials. In 1987, he started "The American Comedy Awards", which was an annual event through 2001. Schlatter also produced a few feature films, and owns The Editing Company, which for many years was one of Hollywood's busiest state-of-the-art post production facilities.[9]
Schlatter has been married to actress
Jolene Brand, who was a regular on several Ernie Kovacs shows of the early 1960s, since 1956.[2] They have two daughters.[10]
Television work
A partial listing of his television achievements follows.
Executive producer
Muhammad Ali's All-Star 60th Birthday Celebration! (2002)
Between 1968 and 1996, Schlatter was nominated for 15
Emmy Awards, winning twice for Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In as Outstanding Musical or Variety Program (1968) and for Sammy Davis, Jr. 60th Anniversary Celebration as Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special (1990). He was also nominated for a Writers Guild of America award in 1997.[12] For his work on
television, Schlatter has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7030 Hollywood Blvd.[1]
Notes
^Schlatter's year of birth has regularly been given as 1932, as he lied about his age early in his career: "I should have told a bigger lie and said I was born in 1942."[2]