Bob booker dies: writer and producer for grammy-winning ‘the first family’ was 92

TV producer-writer Bob Booker, who spent 75 years working in television, radio, film and the recording industry, died July 12 at his home in Tiburon, CA, at age 92 from heart failure,

according to his daughter, Laura Booker.   Booker was best known for the Grammy Award-winning comedy album, _The First Family_, In 1963, Booker, with partner Earle Doud, wrote and produced 

_The First Family_, a lampoon of President John F. Kennedy and his family starring Vaughn Meader. The album became the largest- and fastest-selling record in the history of the record

industry, selling 1 million copies per week for the first six weeks and spending 12 weeks atop the Billboard 200 chart. It went on to win the Grammy for Album of the Year and ultimately sold

7.5 million copies. Booker, Doud and Meader went on to make___ The First Family Volume Two_, which reached No. 4 in 1963. JFK was known to have enjoyed parody, and when asked about the

album, he replied, “I listened to Mr. Meader’s record, and frankly, I thought it sounded more like Teddy than it did me.” Booker went on to write and produce 16 other comedy albums,

including _Al Tijuana & His Jewish Brass_ (1966), _Out of the Closet _(1977), and _When You’re in Love the Whole World is Jewish_ (1966) which was later produced as a play in New York

and Sydney, directed by Jason Alexander. DEADLINE RELATED VIDEO: Booker later teamed with George Foster. They were responsible for the writing on the cult film _The Phynx (1970), _about a

rock ‘n roll band called The Phynx who went to Albania to rescue an exceedingly large group of kidnapped celebrities, ranging from Colonel Sanders to Leo Gorcey. Booker wrote and produced

more than 400 television episodes, including the _NBC Follies_ with Sammy Davis, Jr., the cult-classic _The Paul Lynde Halloween Special_ (1976), _50 Years of Country Music_, _Christmas

Gold_, _The Hit Squad_, _Cotton Club_, and _Comedy Break_, where Ellen DeGeneres and other up-and-coming ‘80s comics made their television debuts.  He also wrote and produced five seasons of

the syndicated sitcom _Out of This World_ (1987-1991), starring Donna Pescow and Maureen Flannigan, as well as his friend Burt Reynolds, who as a favor agreed to play the extra-terrestrial

voice of the father, Troy Garland.  He produced numerous “out-take” television shows, including the series _Foul-Ups, Bleeps and Blunders_, hosted by Don Rickles and Steve Lawrence, and

established an extensive comedy video tape library that he marketed globally for decades.  Born in Jacksonville, FL, Booker made his start at the radio station WINZ-AM in Miami in 1958. In

his afternoon drive slot, he interviewed top entertainers of the time, including Jack Benny, Connie Francis, Nat King Cole, Eartha Kitt, and Frank Sinatra. A move to New York City in 1960

proved more difficult than he anticipated, and Booker eked out a living by writing an article for Playboy magazine and coming up with a series of gag record greeting cards, before hitting

big with the _First Family Album_ in 1963. Booker met his soon-to-be wife, Barbara Noonan, a Manhattan-born actor and danceR, in 1966 on a blind date set up by producer/actor Ike Jones and

Swedish actress Inger Stevens. The couple would go on to elope at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas in 1968 with good friend and director Arthur Hiller and musician Tiny Tim serving as witnesses.

  Booker and wife Barbara would go on to work together, with Barbara as producer on a number of television programs in the 1980s. During the final days of his life, Bob continued to work on

a variety of projects, following his grandfather’s advice that one should “never retire.” He recently finished a soon-to-be-published memoir, _Behind the Scenes in Hollywood,_ and two days

before he passed, he was busy dictating instructions about projects he wanted to pursue or complete.   He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Barbara Noonan Booker, daughters Laura Booker

(SJ Dodd), Courtney Wilkins (Dennis Wilkins), and four grandchildren, Emma, Jack, Lucy and Charlie.