Romeo Muller

Romeo Muller, Jr.
Born	Romeo Muller, Jr.
Occupation(s)	Screenwriter, actor

Romeo Muller, Jr. (7 August 1928 – 30 December 1992) was an American screenwriter and actor most remembered for his screenplays such as for the 1964 TV special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Biography

Early years

Muller was born in the Bronx, New York and raised on Long Island. His talents in the arts were evident very early on. At age 11, he became a puppeteer at his grade school and eventually he began writing his own plays.

His career in theatre began when he joined an acting troupe called "Theater Go Round" in Virginia Beach, Virginia with producer/friend Lesley Savage. At this time Romeo wrote plays such as Angel With The Big, Big Ears and The Great Getaway, which eventually became the Rankin-Bass off Broadway play A Month Of Sundays. Since Romeo was a big man at 6'2", 300 pounds (1.88 m, 136 kg), he decided to stay away from acting and turn his attention towards writing.

Career

After writing material for comedian Jack Benny, Muller was discovered by CBS founder William Paley and selected to be a staff writer for the prestigious Studio One and Philco Theatre. He wrote one of the most popular episodes for the Studio One series entitled "Love Me To Pieces, Baby".

In 1963, Muller met with producer/directors Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass and began a relationship that would last for years. Rankin and Bass asked Romeo to write a screenplay for their first Network television special, entitled Return To Oz, which aired on NBC's The General Electric Fantasy Hour. The show was a success and set the stage for the most popular holiday television special of all time Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Muller embellished the short story into an hour-long broadcast and added a variety of characters into the story.

Muller is also known for his screenplays in other such films as Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town, The Little Drummer Boy, Here Comes Peter Cottontail, and Frosty the Snowman, among many others.

He was also the voice of the narrator, a talking sun in the first three Strawberry Shortcake TV specials from the 1980's, which he also wrote and co-produced.

Romeo read his favorite and first Christmas story every year on Christmas Eve on New York radio station WGHQ. This story was reworked with a different ending for an animated film in 1992 and aired days before Romeo died.

In 2002 the book Jill Chill & the Baron of Glacier Mountain by Ed McCray featured a character named Romeo after Mr. Muller, the very King of Christmas specials. The book was very much written in the style of the old Christmas specials that Romeo wrote that we never see done these days, so it was fitting to add this to the tribute. Romeo's brother Gene wrote a review for the book praising how true it was written to the style of Romeo's work.

Personal life

Muller died in his sleep of a heart attack at his home in shortly after a diagnosis of cancer.

Work

Plays

• Angel With the Big, Big Ears
• A Month of Sundays
• Superman
• A Month of Sundays

Filmography

Feature films

• Return to Oz (1964)
• The Ballad of Smokey the Bear (1965)
• The Daydreamer (1966)
• The Wacky World of Mother Goose (1966)
• The Smokey Bear Show (1969-1971)
• The Tomfoolery Show (1970-1971)
• The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians (1970)
• The Reluctant Dragon and Mr. Toad Show (1970-1971)
• The Jackson Five Show (1971-1973)
• The Osmonds (1972-1974)
• Marco (1972)
• The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye: The Emperor's New Clothes (1972)
• Willie Mays and the Say-Hey Kid (1972)
• The Hobbit (1977)
• It's a Brand New World (1977)
• Puff the Magic Dragon (1978)
• Puff the Magic Dragon in The Land of the Living Lies (1979)
• The Return of the King (1980)
• The World of Strawberry Shortcake (1980)
• Strawberry Shortcake in Big Apple City (1981)
• Puff and the Incredible Mr. Nobody (1982)
• Strawberry Shortcake in Pets on Parade (1982)
• The Flight of Dragons (1986)
• The Wind in the Willows (1987)

Holiday films

• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
• The Cricket on the Hearth (1967)
• Mouse on the Mayflower (1968)
• The Little Drummer Boy (1968)
• Frosty the Snowman (1969)
• Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970)
• Here Comes Peter Cottontail (1971)
• Rudolph's Shiny New Year (1976)
• Frosty's Winter Wonderland (1976)
• The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town(1977)
• Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (1977)
• The Stingiest Man in Town (1978)
• The Little Rascals Christmas Special (1979)
• Jack Frost (1979)
• Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979)
• Peter and the Magic Egg (1983)
• Dorothy in the Land of Oz/Thanksgiving in Oz (1980)
• Pinocchio's Christmas (1980)
• The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold (1981)
• The Wish that Changed Christmas (1991)
• Noel (1992)
• The Twelve Days of Christmas (1993)

External links

• http://www.tafkab.org/puff/rm_essay.html
• http://www.tafkab.org/puff/rm_easter_films.html

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