Biography
With his bald-headed, slightly toothy appearance, and New York accent, Bernie West was born to play comedy on-stage and in movies, and he later graduated to writing and producing it on television. The Bronx-born actor emerged on-stage in the 1950s, then made a feature film, the
Arthur Freed-produced,
Vincente Minnelli-directed adaptation of
Bells Are Ringing at MGM, starring
Judy Holliday. He played a rather prominent role as one of the Holliday character's more eccentric answering service clients, Dr. Joe Kitchell, a dentist who composes songs on his office's air hose. West also appeared in the role of Feinschveiger in the 1962 musical
All-American, but it was on television that he was most visible in the 1960s, surfacing in small comedic roles on series such as Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.. In the early '70s, he entered into association with television producer
Norman Lear. West served as a producer on
All in the Family and also appeared onscreen, portraying a repairman in the pilot episode for the series
Maude. He was later the producer of the
Maude spin-off series
Good Times, and then one of the co-creators and producers of the
All in the Family spin-off
The Jeffersons. West left Lear's orbit later in the 1970s to work with producer Donald Taffner, first serving as executive producer of
Three's Company and later its spin-off series
The Ropers. As a producer, he is sometimes credited as Bernard West. He has become one of the most frequently interviewed figures involved with television comedy of the 1970s and early '80s, and has been seen in various documentaries about entertainment and popular culture. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide