Gregg Oppenheimer describes himself as a grown-up child of Hollywood being the son of the late I love Lucy creator-producer-head writer Jess Oppenheimer. After his father’s death in 1988, Gregg spent several years doing research to complete his father’s unfinished memoirs. In the process he became one of the world’s foremost authorities on I Love Lucy, renewing old friendships with many of the individuals who contributed to the show in front of and behind the cameras. The resulting book, published by Syracuse University Press, is Laughs, Luck…and Lucy: How I Came to Create the Most Popular Sitcom of All Time, which went through seven printings in hardcover before its release in paperback. From 2000 to 2006 Gregg worked with CBS and Paramount Home Entertainment as producer of the I Love Lucy DVDs, a project for which he received the 2004 and 2005 TV DVD Awards in the “Best 1950s Series” category. In 2007 he executive-produced I Love Lucy: The Complete Series, an all-inclusive 34-disc set comprising the entire saga of the Ricardos and the Mertzes, from the long-lost Pilot to The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hours.
Since 2007 Gregg’s contributions to the REPS SHOWCASE have been monumental. He has been a stalwart supporter of the cause, producing, directing, and writing numerous old time radio show re-creations, including The Maltese Falcon, The Fred Allen Show, The Jack Benny Program, and Pinocchio. The productions he has produced at REPS SHOWCASE have been a wonderful mix of drama and comedy (which often includes live music), proving that Gregg has indeed inherited his father’s creative talent.
This year Gregg turns his craft towards radio crime solving as he brings back to the microphone, cases from the files of two legendary radio detectives – Sherlock Holmes and Richard Diamond. Gregg is tasked with unraveling the mystery in a manner that is both enjoyable to the audience and keeps them in suspense. The Sherlock Holmes radio stories were often action packed and filled with atmosphere and featured great music and sound effects. In this production, Holmes is tasked with solving the case of a purported “suicide” which Holmes suspects to be murder. Witness the case unfold Saturday Afternoon, April 16th.
Richard Diamond will be a featured attraction on Friday evening April 15th. Dick Powell was the star of the Richard Diamond radio series. Diamond was a light -hearted detective who often ended each episode singing to his girl friend. The program began on NBC on April 24, 1949 as part of NBC’s great parade of new shows, created by Blake Edwards. Edwards began in the 1940s as an actor, but soon turned to writing screenplays and radio scripts before turning to producing and directing in film and television. His best-known films include Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Days of Wine and Roses, 10 and the hugely successful Pink Panther film series with British comedian Peter Sellers. The Richard Diamond radio series aired until 1953 and would be resurrected for television in 1957 starring David Janssen. The case that Gregg has selected to “showcase” involves a beautiful young woman who believes that someone is trying to kill her and hires Richard Diamond to protect her.
Gregg will be bringing Sherlock Holmes and Richard Diamond to the REPS Radio Sound stage with a full cast of outstanding actors many of whom appeared in the some of the best remembered radio shows of yesteryear.
