Jerry Hopper



Best known as Jerry Hopper, Harold Hankins Hopper was born July 29, 1907 in Guthrie, Oklahoma. A former Paramount editor before becoming a director, he served as a combat photographer in the U.S. Army during World War II, earning himself a Purple Heart when he was wounded during the landing at Leyte in the South Pacific. After the war, he became a radio writer and casting director, later working as an editor at Paramount Pictures before moving to the directors' chair for the Musical Parade series which ran from 1946 to 1948. He gradually went on to direct feature films for Paramount and Universal in the Fifties, such as "The Atomic City" in 1952, "Pony Express' in 1953, "Secret of the Incas" in 1954 and "The Private War of Major Benson" in 1955, the latter three with actor Charlton Heston. In 1958, he directed Brandon De Wilde and Lee Marvin in "The Missouri Traveler." During the Sixties, Hopper worked primarily in directing episodic television, such "Colt .45," "Wagon Train," "Bewitched," "Batman," "Gunsmoke," "The Addams Family," "Burke's Law," "Perry Mason," "The Fugitive," Gilligan's Island and "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" among several others. His last projects before he retired were episodes of "Get Smart" and "It Takes A Thief" and the movies, "His Name Was Madron," "Maharlika" "Bull of the West," a made-for-television movie. He passed away December 17, 1988 in San Clemente, California, survived by his ex-wife, Dorothy Hopper, a classicially-trained pianist, and his four children by his second wife, Win Hopper. His son is voice-over actor, Jay Hopper.

Episode(s)

 * Splashdown
 * All About Eva
 * And Then There Were None
 * The Kidnapper
 * Gilligan vs. Gilligan