Jess Oppenheimer Biography

Fast Facts

• Joined the United States Coast Guard during World War II, where he met agent Ray Stark while stationed in the Public Relations department
• Won a Laurel Award from the Writers Guild of America for TV Writing Achievement in 1992
• Was part of a Stanford University program for gifted children in California run by Professor Lewis M․ Terman, who created the I․Q․ test
• Started out as a writer for radio shows in 1936, writing for shows like "The Packard Hour," "Jack Benny," and "Chase & Sanborn․"
• Was producing and directing the radio show "My Favorite Husband," starring Lucille Ball, when he was asked to create a show for her and her husband, Desi Arnaz, in 1951
• Spent five years working on "I Love Lucy" before leaving in 1956 to become a programming executive at NBC
• Best known as the creator and executive producer of "I Love Lucy" and the 1960s "Angel․"
• Was also an inventor with more than 20 patents, including an in-the-lens prompter, a device similar to the Teleprompter which was used primarily in Britain
• Wrote a memoir called "Laughs, Luck․․․and Lucy: How I Came to Create the Most Popular Sitcom of All Time," which was finished after his death by his son, Gregg Oppenheimer, and published in 1999