Fred De Cordova

Fred De Cordova, producer of "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" for 22 years and director of such movies as Ronald Reagan's "Bedtime for Bonzo," has died. He was 90. De Cordova died Saturday of natural causes at the Motion Picture and Television Fund Hospital in suburban Woodland Hills, hospital spokeswoman Carla White said. De Cordova proved the perfect overseer for Carson's brand of entertainment, making split-second decisions to keep the show moving as he watched over Carson just a few feet behind the camera. He was often seen on camera answering Carson's questions or serving as the butt of a joke. "I can't think of anything else that would be as interesting and as much fun as this. It's the best job in television," De Cordova once said. Jay Leno, who took over as the show's host when Carson left, said De Cordova was a mentor. "He was a great friend and terrific producer who willingly and eagerly shared his counsel and insights with me during my career and when I became host of 'The Tonight Show,'" Leno said Monday. "It is a testament to Fred's professionalism, experience and congeniality that, in this young people's business, he was still influencing the TV industry well into his 80s." Carson didn't return calls made Monday to his production office. De Cordova started his show business career in the theater, then came to Hollywood in 1942 as a dialogue director at Warner Bros. He moved up to director in 1945, but most of his films involved medium-size budgets and lesser stars. Among the titles: "That Way with Women," "The Countess of Monte Cristo," "The Gal Who Took the West," "Here Come the Nelsons," with Ozzie and Harriet and sons, and "I'll Take Sweden," with Bob Hope. His 1951 comedy "Bedtime for Bonzo," with Reagan as a college professor who experiments with raising a chimpanzee, became a target for satirists when Reagan turned to politics. "I thought it then and I still think it is a good movie," De Cordova said in a 1988 interview with The Orange County Register. "But until Ronald Reagan became governor of California, it was just another picture. Now it's all anybody talks about, including Johnny." Former first lady Nancy Reagan on Monday said De Cordova was a longtime friend of the Reagans. "He was always so much fun to be with," Mrs. Reagan said. In the 1950s and 1960s, De Cordova produced or directed such series as "December Bride" and "My Three Sons" and variety shows starring Jack Benny, George Gobel, Burns and Allen and the Smothers Brothers. He began as producer of "The Tonight Show" in 1970, eight years after Carson became the show's star, and became executive producer in 1984. When Carson retired in 1992, De Cordova remained as executive consultant for Leno. De Cordova was born Oct. 27, 1910, in New York City and spent a childhood on the move. As he revealed in his memoir, his parents were con artists, living in posh hotels and dining in top restaurants, then skipping town without paying. "My father made up for his aberration by bringing me up scrupulously honest ...," De Cordova said. "He sat me down and admonished me as to how vitally important it was."