A Brush With Fame

"A brush with fame" was how my Voice colleague Russ Cohen introduced Lee Mendelson at last night's Historical Society meeting.  As a San Mateo High School graduate, USAF veteran ("worst navigator ever") and television producer for more than 50 years, Lee is perhaps best known for the Charlie Brown shows that are still hugely popular today.  He admitted to being nervous in front of the crowd because his family, neighbors, classmates and his first attorney were all in the audience.  I can't relay all of the funny and impressive stories Lee told but here are three:

His first brush with real fame came when he convinced Willie Mays to allow him to follow The Say Hey Kid around with a camera and produce a documentary.  Willie would only do it if Henry Fonda would narrate.  When Lee expressed some doubt about being able to get Fonda, Willie picked up the phone, called Fonda and sealed the deal in a minute.

Mendelson got the idea to do a Charlie Brown show while reading the cartoon strip in Towle's (now The Melt on the Avenue).  He called Charles Schultz up and while trying to convince him to do it, he mentioned the Willie Mays piece.  Schultz said, "If Will Mays can trust you with his life, I guess I can too."  He sold the idea to Coca-Cola (as a sponsor) before it was even written and when Schultz asked how they would do it, he replied "It's something you are gonna write tomorrow".  Schultz said yes as long as Linus got to read from the Bible in the script.

Another idea was to do something with John Steinbeck, but Lee was afraid to call him until his son, local guy Glenn Mendelson, said "you weren't afraid to call Willie Mays or Charles Schultz, why are you afraid to call John Steinbeck?"  That got the phone into Lee's hand.

There's more, lot's more and the Historical Society filmed the talk, but these were some of the highlights for me.  Here's Lee and the crowd last night in the Lane Room.

Lee is hard at work on the 50th anniversary show of Charlie Brown's Christmas, so we all have something to look forward to. 

Comments

[Joe]

There's a nice piece in today's SM County Times about the production of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" on it's 50th anniversary. The reporter missed the B'game connection but otherwise did a nice job:

Back in 1965, when CBS bigwigs got their first peek at "A Charlie Brown Christmas" during a meeting with its creators, they thought they had a flop on their hands. The animation was deemed too crude, the pace too sluggish, the story too thin. And that offbeat jazz soundtrack? It was all wrong for a children's show.

AAUGH!

"We sat there in complete despair," says Lee Mendelson, who directed and served as executive producer for the "Peanuts" special. "I remember them saying, 'We'll put it on one time, and that will be it.' We thought we had ruined Charlie Brown."

http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_29157194/why-a-charlie-brown-christmas-has-endured-for-50-years

[Joe]

The original post above gives you some great local flavor and Lee's obituary in today's Chronicle adds some more:

Lee Mendelson, who produced more than 50 “Peanuts” animated television specials, including “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” died Wednesday, Dec. 25, at his home in Hillsborough. He was 86.

His death was confirmed by his family, who said he had battled lung cancer for several years.

Mendelson, a fourth-generation San Francisco native, won 12 Emmys for his work on the 1965 special “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” for which he wrote the lyrics to the song “Christmas Time Is Here.” It was also his idea to tap jazz musician Vince Guaraldi to compose original music for the show, which became an annual television staple around the holiday season.

He got his start as a producer for San Francisco’s KPIX in 1961, creating the Peabody-winning documentary series “San Francisco Pageant,” which mined the city’s rich history.

Two years later, he established Lee Mendelson Film Productions in Burlingame and produced a documentary on San Francisco Giants player Willie Mays.

https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/movies-tv/lee-mendelson-producer-of-a-charlie-brown-christmas-and-peanuts-specials-dead-at-86

Rest in Peace!

[Peter Garrison]

Such a gentleman speaking about his time in Hollywood for the Burlingame Historical Society! Met David Niven when the star almost landed on his head at the (Beverly Hills Hotel?) pool.