Want fewer ads?

Ronny Graham (August 26, 1919 — July 4, 1999) was an American actor and theatre director, composer, lyricist, and writer.

Graham was born Ronald Montcrief Stringer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second of five children born to vaudeville performers Florence (née Sweeney) and Thomas Graham Stringer (a.k.a. Steve Graham). Ronny Graham Biography (1919-) Graham. a self-taught jazz pianist, began his career as a nightclub comic with a specialty in wry character monologues for which he provided the musical accompaniment, à la Dwight Fiske. He made his Broadway debut in the revue New Faces of 1952, to which he contributed sketches and lyrics and in which he performed. He won the Theatre World Award for his efforts. He later made similar contributions to New Faces of 1956 and New Faces of 1962. He wrote the lyrics for Bravo Giovanni, which garnered him a Tony Award nomination, and directed a string of unsuccessful plays, two of which closed on opening night, in the mid-1960s to early 1970s.

As a writer, Graham penned seven episodes of M*A*S*H (and guest starring in one-as Sgt. Gribble in the episode "Your Hit Parade," in which he was program consultant) and nine episodes of The Brady Bunch Hour and the screenplays for the Mel Brooks' films To Be or Not to Be and Spaceballs. He had a recurring role on Chico and the Man and made guest appearances on Murder She Wrote, Picket Fences, and Chicago Hope. His stage credits also included several ben bagely revues and the ill fated sequel to Annie, miss hannigan's revenge .

Graham was married four times, to Jean Spitzbarth (1947 - 1950), with whom he had one child; Ellen Hanley (1951 - 1963), with whom he had two children; Sigyn Lund, (1965 - 1973), with whom he had two children; and Pamela Gill (1974 - 1999), to whom he was married when he died of liver disease in Los Angeles.

This author page uses material from the Wikipedia article "Ronny Graham", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0