Arnold Laven

Arnold Laven, the successful television director and producer, moved to Los Angeles in the 1930s, where Laven got his first show business job in the mailroom at Warner Brothers. During World War II, he joined the United States Army, where he was assigned to the First Motion Picture Unit, a unit made up of military personnel culled from the movie industry. There he met Jules V. Levy and Arthur Gardner. The three served their time producing training films, and discussing their plans to form their own production company. After they were discharged in 1945, each took a job in the industry, Laven and Levy as script supervisors, Gardner as an assistant director, until 1952, when they were able to mount their own production, the film noir "Without Warning!," which Laven directed. The trio would go on to work together for decades on projects like the western series "The Rifleman," "Law of the Plainsman," and "The Big Valley." Laven built a distinguished career working on the previously mentioned shows as well as the family comedy "Eight Is Enough," the superhero series "The Greatest American Hero," and the action series "The A-Team." He retired in 1985, bringing an end to an impressive and expansive career.Laven died at the age of 87.