Buck Houghton

Born(1915-05-04)May 4, 1915

Denver, Colorado,
United States

DiedMay 14, 1999(1999-05-14) (aged 84)

Los Angeles, California,
United States

A.E. "Buck" Houghton
Taken at age 45
Born	(1915-05-04)May 4, 1915 Denver, Colorado, United States
Died	May 14, 1999(1999-05-14) (aged 84) Los Angeles, California, United States

Archible Ernest "Buck" Houghton (May 4, 1915 – May 14, 1999) was an American television producer and writer best known for producing the first three seasons of The Twilight Zone, as well as many other television programs including Leave it to Beaver and independent films from the 1950s through the 1990s. He first entered the film industry as a reader and story editor for David O. Selznick in the 1930s. He moved over to Paramount, working his way up to the casting office and then to the budget department. During World War II, he helped make films for the Office of War Information.^[1] Following the war, Houghton assisted executive producers at RKO, and had a two-year stint as a story editor for MGM. He soon became involved in producing early TV dramas such as “China Smith,” “Meet McGraw,” “Yancy Derringer” and “Man with a Camera.” ^[2]

Houghton reached a pinnacle in his career when he was hired by Bill Self at CBS to produce the first 39 episodes of Rod Serling's “The Twilight Zone” in its original half-hour format. When the network insisted the fourth season consist of hour-long shows,^[1] Buck decided it was time to move on. His subsequent collaboration with dramatist Clifford Odets, "The Richard Boone Show" (1963–64) was the only repertory company on television, in which a resident cast of actors played different roles in a TV play every week.^[2] It was nominated for the Outstanding Dramatic Series Emmy Award in 1964.^[3]

Other credits include seasons of “High Chaparral”, “Leave it to Beaver”, “Harry O.”, “Hawaii 5-O” and the American Zoetrope film, "The Escape Artist."