Biography
Armand Andre Archerd (January 13, 1922 β September 8, 2009) was an American columnist for Variety for over fifty years before retiring his "Just for Variety" column in September 2005. In November 2005, Archerd began blogging for Variety and was working on a memoir when he died. Archerd was born in The Bronx, New York, and graduated from UCLA in 1941. He was hired by Variety to replace columnist Sheilah Graham (former girlfriend of F. Scott Fitzgerald) in 1953. His "Just for Variety" column appeared on page two of Daily Variety and swiftly became popular in Hollywood. Archerd broke many exclusive stories, reporting from film sets, announcing pending deals, giving news of star-related hospitalizations, marriages, and births. In 1984, he was given a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, in front of Mann's Chinese Theater, where he had emceed dozens of movie premieres.
One of his most significant scoops was in his July 23, 1985, column, when he printed that Rock Hudson, despite denials from the actor's publicists and managers, was undergoing treatment for AIDS.
Archerd was Jewish and a strong proponent of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Holocaust awareness. He was married to Selma Archerd, a former actress, from November 15, 1969, until his death. They had one child and lived in Westwood, Los Angeles, California.
Archerd made four appearances on the popular, long-running game show The Hollywood Squares in the 1970s. His bluffs to questions from Peter Marshall became legendary, as he was able to fool contestants into believing his (often ridiculous) answers. Some say he was even better than the accepted champion in that regard, long-time participant John Davidson. Also in that decade, Archerd and his wife Selma made appearances on the game show Tattletales.
He made several appearances in TV series, like Burke's Law (1964), Batman (episode 39), Mannix (1967), and Marcus Welby, M.D., and films such as The Young Runaways (1968), The Outfit (1973), Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976), Gable and Lombard (1976), California Suite (1978), The French Atlantic Affair (1979) and The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood (1980).
Archerd died at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center from a rare form of lung cancer (pleural mesothelioma), as a result of his exposure to asbestos in the Navy during World War II.
Filmography
all 48
Movies 29
self 22
TV Shows 19
Writer 1
More Loverly Than Ever: The Making of 'My Fair Lady' (1995)
Inside the Dream Factory (1995)
Burke's Law (1994)
Diagnosis: Murder (1993)
The Please Watch the Jon Lovitz Special, Live! (1992)
Repossessed (1990)
Happy Birthday, Bugs! 50 Looney Years (1990)
Hyper Sapien: People from Another Star (1986)
The Ratings Game (1984)
Matt Houston (1982)
Entertainment Tonight (1981)
The Star Maker (1981)
The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood (1980)
The French Atlantic Affair (1979)
California Suite (1978)
More Than Friends (1978)
The Users (1978)
Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
TVTV Looks at the Oscars (1976)
Gable and Lombard (1976)
People's Choice Awards (1975)
The Lion Roars Again (1975)
Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974)
The Outfit (1973)
The Thief Who Came to Dinner (1973)
Here We Go Again (1973)
Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
The Mod Squad (1968)
Here's Lucy (1968)
Adam-12 (1968)
The Young Runaways (1968)
Wild in the Streets (1968)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Valley of the Dolls: A World Premiere Voyage (1967)
Mannix (1967)
That Girl (1966)
Batman (1966)
Honey West (1965)
The Big Valley (1965)
What a Way to Go! (1964)
Kisses for My President (1964)
Under the Yum-Yum Tree (1963)
A New Kind of Love (1963)
Burke's Law (1963)
Saints and Sinners (1962)
77 Sunset Strip (1958)
Teacher's Pet (1958)
Ratings
Information
Known ForActing
GenderMale
Birthday1919-01-13
Deathday2009-09-08 (90 years old)
Birth PlaceThe Bronx, United States of America
RelationshipsSelma Archerd (1969-01-01 - 2009-01-01)
CitizenshipsUnited States of America
Awardsstar on Hollywood Walk of Fame
This article uses material from Wikipedia.
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