Biography
American screenwriter Bert Granet joined the RKO Radio short-subject unit in the early 1930s. Granet was promoted to features later in the decade, penning such
Lucille Ball comedies as
The Affairs of Annabel (1938) and A Girl, Guy and a Gob (1941). In 1944, he became a producer, going on to big-budget projects like RKO's
Berlin Express (1947) and Columbia's
The Marrying Kind (1952). When the RKO studio was purchased by Desilu Productions in 1958, Granet's old friends and co-workers
Lucille Ball and
Desi Arnaz hired him to produce the company's most prestigious TV projects, including the weekly Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse anthology. During this series' two-year run, Granet oversaw such efforts as the two-part
Untouchables pilot and
Rod Serling's 60-minute drama The Time Element, which served as a dry run for Serling's own
Twilight Zone. In 1963, Bert Granet resumed his professional relationship with Serling, taking over from
Herbert Hirschman as producer of
Twilight Zone and remaining in this position well into the series' fifth and final season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide