William Frye obit

William Frye, Agent, Producer and Hollywood Raconteur, Dies at 96

He was not on the list.

William Frye, a man about town in Hollywood who produced General Electric Theater and Boris Karloff’s Thriller for television as well as films including The Trouble With Angels and Airport 1975, has died. He was 96.

Frye died Nov. 3 of natural causes at his home in Palm Desert, Calif., according to an obituary placed in the Los Angeles Times.

Frye worked with and became dear friends with the likes of Cary Grant, Ronald Colman, Ronald Reagan, Irene Dunne, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Loretta Young, Rosalind Russell, Bob Hope and Jimmy Stewart.

The producer also was close for more than a decade with the elusive Greta Garbo — she “was famous for canceling at the last minute, although she never did it to me,” he wrote in an entertaining piece titled “The Garbo Next Door” for Vanity Fair in 2000.

Frye spent many months trying to convince the legendary actress to star in his 1966 film The Trouble With Angels, but not even he could get Garbo to end her long retirement. The role of the Mother Superior then went to Russell, who also appeared in Where Angels Go … Trouble Follows!, the 1968 sequel.

After years in television, those were the first two features produced by Frye.

In another essay for Vanity Fair, “The Devil in Miss Davis,” Frye wrote about discovering Henry Farrell’s 1960 book What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and approaching Davis to star in a film adaptation. She wound up with an Oscar nomination for best actress, and he accompanied her to the 1963 Academy Awards.

That night, not only did Davis not win, she saw her bitter rival and co-star Joan Crawford — who wasn’t nominated for Baby Jane — come to the stage to accept the Oscar trophy on behalf of the winner, Anne Bancroft. (The scene was immortalized in Ryan Murphy’s recent FX miniseries Feud: Bette and Joan.)

 

Producer

Apt Pupil

producer

 

Raise the Titanic (1980)

Raise the Titanic

5.1

producer

1980

 

Superdome (1978)

Superdome

2.9

TV Movie

producer (produced by)

1978

 

Airport '77 (1977)

Airport '77

5.8

producer

1977

 

Airport 1975 (1974)

Airport 1975

5.7

producer

1974

 

The Elevator (1974)

The Elevator

5.3

TV Movie

producer

1974

 

Linda (1973)

Linda

6.6

TV Movie

producer

1973

 

Telly Savalas and Mike Farrell in She Cried Murder (1973)

She Cried Murder

5.3

TV Movie

producer

1973

 

The Bold Ones: The New Doctors (1969)

The Bold Ones: The New Doctors

7.0

TV Series

executive producer

1973

1 episode

 

Amanda Fallon (1973)

Amanda Fallon

5.1

TV Movie

executive producer

1973

 

Elizabeth Montgomery in The Victim (1972)

The Victim

6.2

TV Movie

producer (produced by)

1972

 

The Longest Night (1972)

The Longest Night

6.7

TV Movie

producer

1972

 

The Screaming Woman (1972)

The Screaming Woman

6.6

TV Movie

producer (produced by)

1972

 

Joan Hackett and Roy Thinnes in The Other Man (1970)

The Other Man

6.6

TV Movie

producer

1970

 

The Survivors (1969)

The Survivors

7.6

TV Series

producer

1969

1 episode

 

Where Angels Go Trouble Follows! (1968)

Where Angels Go Trouble Follows!

6.3

producer

1968

 

The Trouble with Angels (1966)

The Trouble with Angels

7.3

producer (produced by)

1966

 

A Look at Monaco

6.4

TV Movie

producer

1963

 

Thriller (1960)

Thriller

8.2

TV Series

producer

1960–1962

49 episodes

 

Henry Fonda in The Deputy (1959)

The Deputy

6.9

TV Series

executive producer

producer

1959–1961

76 episodes

 

Ronald Reagan in General Electric Theater (1953)

General Electric Theater

6.9

TV Series

producer

executive producer

associate producer

1954–1960

81 episodes

 

Jack Benny and Phil Silvers in The Slowest Gun in the West (1960)

The Slowest Gun in the West

6.6

TV Movie

executive producer

1960

 

Startime (1959)

Startime

6.3

TV Series

producer

1959–1960

2 episodes

 

Johnny Staccato (1959)

Johnny Staccato

8.0

TV Series

executive producer

1959–1960

23 episodes

 

The Joseph Cotten Show: On Trial (1955)

The Joseph Cotten Show: On Trial

6.9

TV Series

producer

1959

2 episodes

 

Hal Baylor, Hans Conried, and Chuck Hicks in Schlitz Playhouse (1951)

Schlitz Playhouse

7.6

TV Series

producer

1957–1959

3 episodes

 

Suspicion (1957)

Suspicion

8.2

TV Series

producer

1957–1958

3 episodes

 

Star Stage (1955)

Star Stage

5.8

TV Series

associate producer

1956

3 episodes

 

The Halls of Ivy (1954)

The Halls of Ivy

7.9

TV Series

producer

1954–1955

38 episodes

 

Four Star Playhouse (1952)

Four Star Playhouse

7.6

TV Series

producer

1954

1 episode