Duane Earl Poole

September 15, 1948 - April 1, 2023 Duane Earl Poole, 74, of Studio City, California lost his valiant fight with cancer on Saturday, April 1st, at 7:05pm. He was surrounded by loved ones. He was born on September 15, 1948 to Wilma and Carl Poole in Prescott, Arizona. He is survived by his loving husband of 22 years, Frank Bonventre, their 13-year old dog Buddy, father-in-law Anthony Bonventre, in-laws Virginia Bonventre Cappelli, Patricia Bonventre, David Cappelli Sr., and many nieces and nephews. Duane was destined to be in show business when at the age of 7 months he won 1st runner-up in the Gerber Baby Photo Search. The family moved to Kennewick, Washington where he attended Kennewick High School graduating with honors. Duane then attended The University of Washington on a partial scholarship. Shortly after graduation, he worked in children's television for King World Productions in Seattle where he caught the attention of Hanna-Barbera. They brought him to Los Angeles and he joined their production team from 1975 to 1982 where he created programming for them and Sid and Marty Kroft.
Some of these programs included: The Great Grape Ape, A Flintstones Christmas, The Smurfs, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo (Scrappy was Duane's creation), Alvin and the Chipmunks, Blue Falcon and Dyno Mutt, Jana of the Jungle, and C*H*O*M*P*S.
In 1982 he joined Aaron Spelling's team of writers and producers on such shows as: Hart to Hart, The Love Boat Movies, Lottery!, Glitter, and HOTEL. Duane wrote many MOWs throughout the 1990's. Including Katharine Hepburn's last two screen appearances in This Can't Be Love with Anthony Quinn and One Christmas with Julie Harris, Henry Winkler, and Swoosie Kurtz; Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory with Patty Duke and Piper Laurie; Sarah Plain and Tall with Glenn Close, and Christopher Walken; Surviving Gilligan's Island; Return to The Batcave; and A Season for Miracles with Kathy Baker, Laura Dern, Lynn Redgrave, Patty Duke, and Carla Cugino. Duane wrote numerous Hallmark Channel and Lifetime movies, some of the titles include: The Edge of the Garden, The Memory Book, Christmas List, Royally Ever After, Next Stop Christmas, An Angel in the Family, A Timeless Christmas, A Very Vintage Christmas, Last Chance Llama Ranch, Honeymoon with Mom, For the Love of a Child, Deadly Encounter, Her Best Friend's Husband, and Going for Broke.
One of Duane's biggest passions was the theatre. He is a librettist for the musical adaptation of his film A Christmas Memory with music and lyrics by Carol Hall and Larry Grossman; Scrooge in Love, with music and lyrics by Larry Grossman and Kellen Blair, and co-librettist with James Mellon for Dorian: A New Musical with music and lyrics by James Mellon and Scott De Turk. He was currently writing a new musical with Amanda McBroom and Michele Brourman. He enjoyed being an Advisory Board member of the Musical Theatre Guild and wrote many fund-raising events for them honoring Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Schwartz, Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, to name a few.
Duane loved traveling the world and entertaining in his home with his husband Frank. Their holiday gatherings and gourmet dinner parties became so popular that people requested to be put on a waiting list in the event that a guest canceled last minute. Duane also wrote original songs for family and close friends' birthdays, tailoring them to each individual. He was a loving, loyal, and caring friend to those who knew him with a sense of humor that would have you laughing so hard you would cry. He will be greatly missed.
A proud member of the Writers Guild, Duane was represented by Summit Talent & Literary Agency. There will be a Celebration of Life Memorial honoring Duane at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood on Thursday, May 11th at 11 am. Space is limited, please RSVP at franklyca@aol.com. The memorial service will be recorded and live-streamed at a future date. If interested in viewing, contact franklyca@aol.com and you will be given the web address and date