# Harry Crane

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{{short description|American screenwriter (1914–99)}}
{{about|comedy writer Harry Crane|the [Mad Men](/source/Mad_Men) character Harry Crane|List of Mad Men characters}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Harry Crane
| image       = 
| caption     = 
| birth_date  = April 23, 1914
| birth_place = [Brooklyn](/source/Brooklyn), [New York](/source/New_York_(state)), U.S.
| birth_name  = Harry Kravitsky
| other_names = 
| death_date  = {{death date and age|1999|09|13|1914|04|23}}
| death_place = [Beverly Hills, California](/source/Beverly_Hills%2C_California), U.S.
| death_cause = 
| education   = 
| occupation  = Comedy writer
| known_for   = Co-creator of the concept behind ''[The Honeymooners](/source/The_Honeymooners)''
| children    = 2 Stephanie Crane Hirsh and Barbara Gilbert Cowan 
| spouse      = {{plainlist|
* Julia Grandes
* Lillian Reifman
}}
| parents     = 
| family      = [Melissa Gilbert](/source/Melissa_Gilbert) (granddaughter)<br> [Sara Gilbert](/source/Sara_Gilbert) (granddaughter)<br> [Jonathan Gilbert](/source/Jonathan_Gilbert) (grandson)<br> [Warren Cowan](/source/Warren_Cowan) (son-in-law)
| website     =
}}

'''Harry Crane''' ([né](/source/n%C3%A9) '''Kravitsky'''; April 23, 1914 – September 13, 1999) was an American comedy writer who helped to create the concept for ''[The Honeymooners](/source/The_Honeymooners)'' and its signature characters.<ref name=NYTObitCrane>[https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/20/arts/harry-crane-85-who-helped-create-the-honeymooners.html New York Times: "Harry Crane, 85, Who Helped Create 'The Honeymooners'" by Nick Ravo] Monday September 20, 1999</ref><ref name=Variety>[https://variety.com/1999/scene/people-news/harry-crane-1117755715/ Variety: "Harry Crane" by Doug Galloway] September 16, 1999</ref>

==Biography==
Crane was born Harry Kravitsky<ref>[http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt0p3017jh/ Harry Kravitsky Online Archive of California: "Finding Aid for the Harry Crane Papers, ca. 1915-late 1990s (bulk 1940s-1980s)"] retrieved October 4, 2015 | "''Harry Kravitsky (later changed to Crane) was born in 1914 in Brooklyn, New York''"</ref> to a [Jewish](/source/American_Jews) family on April 23, 1914, in [Brooklyn, New York](/source/Brooklyn%2C_New_York).<ref name=NYTObitCrane /> He worked as a stand-up comedian<ref name=Variety /> in the [Borscht Belt](/source/Borscht_Belt) while a teenager.<ref name=NYTObitCrane /> In 1943, he was hired as a writer by [Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer](/source/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)<ref name=NYTObitCrane /> and wrote several screenplays including ''[Air Raid Wardens](/source/Air_Raid_Wardens)'' (1943) starring [Stan Laurel](/source/Stan_Laurel) and [Oliver Hardy](/source/Oliver_Hardy),<ref name=NYTObitCrane /> ''[Lost in a Harem](/source/Lost_in_a_Harem)'' (1944) starring [Lou Costello](/source/Lou_Costello) and [Bud Abbott](/source/Bud_Abbott);<ref name=Variety /> ''[The Harvey Girls](/source/The_Harvey_Girls)'' (1946) starring [Judy Garland](/source/Judy_Garland) and [Angela Lansbury](/source/Angela_Lansbury);<ref name=NYTObitCrane /> the ''[Ziegfeld Follies](/source/Ziegfeld_Follies_(film))'' (uncredited) (1946) with [Fred Astaire](/source/Fred_Astaire), [Lucille Ball](/source/Lucille_Ball), and [Fanny Brice](/source/Fanny_Brice);<ref name=UCLA>{{Cite web|first= Teri Bond|last= Michael |authorlink=   |title= UCLA Library Acquires Papers of Television Pioneer Harry Crane  |website=UCLA Newsroom|date= November 18, 2004|url=http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/UCLA-Library-Acquires-Papers-of-5661  |accessdate=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180428094742/http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/UCLA-Library-Acquires-Papers-of-5661| archive-date=April 28, 2018}}</ref> the ''[Song of the Thin Man](/source/Song_of_the_Thin_Man)'' (1947) starring [Myrna Loy](/source/Myrna_Loy) and [William Powell](/source/William_Powell).<ref name=NYTObitCrane /> He also wrote additional dialogue for ''[Two Sisters from Boston](/source/Two_Sisters_from_Boston)'' (1946)<ref name=Variety /> and ''[Take Me Out to the Ball Game](/source/Take_Me_Out_to_the_Ball_Game)'' (uncredited).<ref name=Variety />

In the 1950s, he began working in television with the [DuMont Television Network](/source/DuMont_Television_Network). Crane successfully recommended [Jackie Gleason](/source/Jackie_Gleason), whom he knew from his time as a comedian in New York, to DuMont as host for their show the ''[Cavalcade of Stars](/source/Cavalcade_of_Stars)''.<ref name=UCLA /> In 1951, while working with Joe Bigelow on ''Cavalcade of Stars'', Gleason asked them to produce a sketch of him as a working class Brooklyn guy with a nagging wife. The two created the characters Ralph and Alice Kramden, who became a recurring act in Gleason's show.<ref name=Variety /> The act eventually became a standalone program entitled ''[The Honeymooners](/source/The_Honeymooners)'' on [CBS](/source/CBS), which ran from 1955 to 1956.<ref name=NYTObitCrane /> Crane wrote comedic scripts and jokes for many comedians including [Jimmy Durante](/source/Jimmy_Durante), [Abbott and Costello](/source/Abbott_and_Costello), the [Marx Brothers](/source/Marx_Brothers), [Milton Berle](/source/Milton_Berle), and [Jerry Lewis](/source/Jerry_Lewis). He also wrote jokes for singers including [Bing Crosby](/source/Bing_Crosby), [Frank Sinatra](/source/Frank_Sinatra), [Dinah Shore](/source/Dinah_Shore), [Perry Como](/source/Perry_Como), [Alan King](/source/Alan_King_(comedian)), [Dean Martin](/source/Dean_Martin),<ref name=NYTObitCrane /> [Eddie Fisher](/source/Eddie_Fisher_(singer)), [Red Skelton](/source/Red_Skelton), [Liberace](/source/Liberace) and [Henny Youngman](/source/Henny_Youngman).<ref name=Variety />

Crane wrote for the [Academy Awards](/source/Academy_Awards) in 1957 and 1959; the [Golden Globes](/source/Golden_Globes) in 1968; and the [Emmy Awards](/source/Emmy_Awards) in 1968, 1971, 1973 and 1974.<ref name=Variety /> In 1965, he resuscitated the ''[Dean Martin Show](/source/Dean_Martin_Show)'' which had been suffering from poor ratings and added the concept of the [celebrity roast](/source/roast_(comedy));<ref>[http://splitsider.com/2015/05/the-head-writer-at-the-end-of-an-era/ Split Sider News: "The Head Writer at the End of an Era" BY Michael Barrie] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907000756/http://splitsider.com/2015/05/the-head-writer-at-the-end-of-an-era/ |date=2015-09-07 }} May 28, 2015</ref> he was nominated for an Emmy in 1966-67 for his efforts.<ref name=Variety />

==Personal life==
Crane married twice. He had two daughters with his first wife, Julia Grandes: Stephanie Crane Hirsh, and Barbara Gilbert Cowan (married to publicist [Warren Cowan](/source/Warren_Cowan)).<ref name=UCLA /><ref name=Barnes/> Julia Grandes Crane, born in Connecticut on April 28,1917, died on December 1, 2018, in [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles), [California](/source/California), at age 101.<ref name=Barnes>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/julia-grandes-crane-dead-widow-honeymooners-creator-harry-crane-was-101-1166312|title=Julia Grandes Crane, Widow of 'The Honeymooners' Creator Harry Crane, Dies at 101|first=Mike |last= Barnes|newspaper=[The Hollywood Reporter](/source/The_Hollywood_Reporter)|date=2018-12-04|accessdate=2018-12-17}}</ref>

In 1958, Crane married his second wife, Lillian Reifman (1918-2010) to whom he remained married until his death.<ref name=LATimesLillianObit>[http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/latimes/obituary.aspx?pid=143178635 Los Angeles Times: "Lillian Crane"] May 28, 2010</ref> Crane mentored her son from a previous marriage, writer Ed Scharlach.<ref name=LATimesLillianObit /> Crane is the grandfather of the television actresses [Melissa Gilbert](/source/Melissa_Gilbert) and [Sara Gilbert](/source/Sara_Gilbert) and actor [Jonathan Gilbert](/source/Jonathan_Gilbert). His daughter Stephanie Crane was in a relationship with [Bill Cosby](/source/Bill_Cosby)'s son, [Ennis Cosby](/source/Ennis_Cosby) who was killed in 1997 while on his way to visit her.<ref>[http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/honeymooners-creator-harry-crane-dead-85-article-1.851230 New York Daily News: "'Honeymooners' Creator Harry Crane Dead at 85" by Bill Hutchinson] September 16, 1999</ref> Crane was interred at [Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery](/source/Mount_Sinai_Memorial_Park_Cemetery).<ref name=Variety />

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}
== External links==
*{{IMDb name|0186355}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crane, Harry}}
Category:1914 births
Category:1999 deaths
Category:American comedy writers
Category:American stand-up comedians
Category:Jewish American screenwriters
Category:Burials at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery
Category:20th-century American comedians
Category:20th-century American screenwriters
Category:20th-century American Jews
Category:Comedians from Brooklyn
Category:American male comedians
Category:Jewish American comedians
Category:Jewish male comedians

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Harry Crane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Crane) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Crane?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.