Fannie Steinhart

Female 1824 - 1908  (84 years)


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Generation: 1

  1. 1.  Fannie Steinhart was born 28 Feb 1824, Floß, Neustadt an der Waldnaab, Oberpfalz, Bayern, Germany; died 4 Aug 1908, Far Rockaway, Queens, New York, United States; was buried 7 Aug 1908, Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States.

    Notes:

    Born Friedel Steinhart

    given name spelled Fanny on gravestone
    surname also spelled Steinhardt, Stenhort, Stenhordt; Steinhart entered on death certificate of daughter, Bertha Cohen and on marriage certificate of son, Maurice Cohen

    Death certificate 2146

    Fannie married Bernard Cohen Abt 1846, , , Bayern, Germany. Bernard (son of Meyer Cohen) was born 24 Jan 1816, Fürth, Fürth, Mittelfranken, Bayern, Germany; died 16 May 1897, New York City, New York, New York, United States; was buried 19 May 1897, Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States. [Group Sheet]

    Children:
    1. 2. Simmon F. Cohen  Descendancy chart to this point was born Jan 1847, , , Bayern, Germany; died Bef 1 Jan 1920.
    2. 3. Bertha Cohen  Descendancy chart to this point was born 8 Jul 1854, , , Wisconsin, United States; died 7 Jun 1917, New York City, New York, New York, United States; was buried 10 Jun 1917, Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States.
    3. 4. Jesse Cohen  Descendancy chart to this point was born Cal 1855, Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States; died 8 Mar 1873, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; was buried 9 Mar 1873, Jewish Cemetery, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
    4. 5. Mollie Cohen  Descendancy chart to this point was born 14 Jan 1858, , , Wisconsin, United States; died 12 Aug 1938, New York City, New York, New York, United States; was buried , Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States.
    5. 6. Ida Cohen  Descendancy chart to this point was born Cal 1859, , , Wisconsin, United States; died 19 Jan 1941, Far Rockaway, Queens, New York, United States; was buried 21 Jan 1941, Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States.
    6. 7. Maurice Cohen  Descendancy chart to this point was born 12 Jun 1867, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.


Generation: 2

  1. 2.  Simmon F. Cohen Descendancy chart to this point (1.Fannie1) was born Jan 1847, , , Bayern, Germany; died Bef 1 Jan 1920.

    Simmon married Ruhama C. Conover Cal 1889. Ruhama was born Feb 1847, , , New Jersey, United States. [Group Sheet]


  2. 3.  Bertha Cohen Descendancy chart to this point (1.Fannie1) was born 8 Jul 1854, , , Wisconsin, United States; died 7 Jun 1917, New York City, New York, New York, United States; was buried 10 Jun 1917, Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States.

    Notes:

    Born May 1852 according to 1900 U.S. Census

    third child born 1885?

    15 Apr 1910 according to U.S. 1910 Census had 4 children, 2 living

    Died at age 62 years, 10 months and 29 days at Flower Hospital

    Bertha married Manuel Oppenheim Cal 1876, New York City, New York, New York, United States. Manuel (son of Solomon Oppenheim and Leah Aronson) was born 10 Apr 1851, Neustadt, Suwałki, Poland; died 6 Dec 1917, New York City, New York, New York, United States; was buried 9 Dec 1917, Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States. [Group Sheet]

    Children:
    1. 8. Jesse Paul Oppenheim, Senior  Descendancy chart to this point was born 31 Oct 1876, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 13 Sep 1936, New York City, New York, New York, United States; was buried , Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States.
    2. 9. Dora Oppenheim  Descendancy chart to this point was born 31 Aug 1878, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died Bef 1 Jun 1900.
    3. 10. Arthur Oppenheim  Descendancy chart to this point was born 26 Mar 1888, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 20 Sep 1898, New York City, New York, New York, United States; was buried 22 Sep 1898, Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States.
    4. 11. Renee B. Oppenheim  Descendancy chart to this point was born 16 Jul 1889, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 9 Jun 1982, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States; was buried , Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States.

  3. 4.  Jesse Cohen Descendancy chart to this point (1.Fannie1) was born Cal 1855, Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States; died 8 Mar 1873, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; was buried 9 Mar 1873, Jewish Cemetery, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

    Notes:

    Born Josiah


  4. 5.  Mollie Cohen Descendancy chart to this point (1.Fannie1) was born 14 Jan 1858, , , Wisconsin, United States; died 12 Aug 1938, New York City, New York, New York, United States; was buried , Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States.

    Notes:

    Born Mary Cohen per 1860 US Census

    both parents were from Bavaria according to 1920 U.S. Census

    Mollie married Isidor Hirshfeld Cal 1877, , , , United States. Isidor (son of Markus Hirschfeld and Johanna Aron) was born 10 Nov 1839, Bernstein, Soldin, Brandenburg, Preußen, Germany; died 18 May 1903, New York City, New York, New York, United States; was buried 20 May 1903, Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States. [Group Sheet]

    Children:
    1. 12. Minnie Hirshfeld  Descendancy chart to this point was born 31 Jan 1878, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 11 May 1973, New York City, New York, New York, United States; was buried , Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Hawthorne, Westchester, New York.
    2. 13. Milton Hirshfeld  Descendancy chart to this point was born 12 Jan 1881, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 29 Aug 1929, New York City, New York, New York, United States; was buried 1 Sep 1929, Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States.
    3. 14. Jerome Hirshfeld  Descendancy chart to this point was born 13 Sep 1886, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 1 Mar 1964, New York City, New York, New York, United States.

  5. 6.  Ida Cohen Descendancy chart to this point (1.Fannie1) was born Cal 1859, , , Wisconsin, United States; died 19 Jan 1941, Far Rockaway, Queens, New York, United States; was buried 21 Jan 1941, Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States.

    Notes:

    1 Apr 1935 and 1 Apr 1940 U.S. Census resided with son, Hugo Sidney Radt, Junior, and family

    Died at Saint Joseph's Hospital (now Saint John's Episcopal Hospital South Shore)

    Ida married Max Radt 1887, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Max (son of Littmann Radt and Helene Haase) was born Cal 1857, Zerkow, Jarotschin, Posen, Preußen, Germany; died 26 Sep 1932, Hewlett, Nassau, New York, United States; was buried 28 Sep 1932, Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States. [Group Sheet]

    Children:
    1. 15. Hugo Sidney Radt, Senior  Descendancy chart to this point was born 18 Oct 1887, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died Nov 1980, Deerfield, Lake, Illinois, United States; was buried , Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States.

  6. 7.  Maurice Cohen Descendancy chart to this point (1.Fannie1) was born 12 Jun 1867, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

    Notes:

    given name also spelled Morris

    prior marriage to Nalessa with whom daughter, Hattie Cohen, was born 21 Apr 1889 in Philadelphia?

    22 Nov 1920 Passport Application 114428

    20 Nov 1940 resided or office at 654 Madison Avenue, New York City

    Maurice married Catherine Jenkins 21 Jul 1910, New York City, New York, New York, United States. Catherine (daughter of Peter Jenkins and Mary Ryland) was born 6 Jun 1872, Atlanta, Fulton, Georgia, United States; died 20 Nov 1940, , Queens, New York, United States; was buried 22 Nov 1940, Fresh Pond Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens, New York, United States. [Group Sheet]



Generation: 3

  1. 8.  Jesse Paul Oppenheim, Senior Descendancy chart to this point (3.Bertha2, 1.Fannie1) was born 31 Oct 1876, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 13 Sep 1936, New York City, New York, New York, United States; was buried , Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States.

    Jesse married Essie Lauterbach 21 Dec 1908, New York City, New York, New York, United States. Essie (daughter of Isaac Lauterbach and Pauline Rossman) was born 24 Jul 1882, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 25 Apr 1936, New York City, New York, New York, United States; was buried 27 Apr 1936, Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States. [Group Sheet]

    Children:
    1. 16. Daisy Constance Oppenheim  Descendancy chart to this point was born 27 Feb 1910, New York City, New York, New York, United States.
    2. 17. Jesse Paul Oppenheim, Junior  Descendancy chart to this point was born 9 Feb 1913, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 14 Oct 2005, West Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States.
    3. 18. Bertha Jill Oppenheim  Descendancy chart to this point was born 24 Feb 1919, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 17 Sep 1996.

  2. 9.  Dora Oppenheim Descendancy chart to this point (3.Bertha2, 1.Fannie1) was born 31 Aug 1878, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died Bef 1 Jun 1900.

  3. 10.  Arthur Oppenheim Descendancy chart to this point (3.Bertha2, 1.Fannie1) was born 26 Mar 1888, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 20 Sep 1898, New York City, New York, New York, United States; was buried 22 Sep 1898, Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States.

    Notes:

    Born at home, 233 East 86th Street

    Died at Presbyterian Hospital; "Amputation of both legs: Shock (Accident)"


  4. 11.  Renee B. Oppenheim Descendancy chart to this point (3.Bertha2, 1.Fannie1) was born 16 Jul 1889, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 9 Jun 1982, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States; was buried , Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States.

    Notes:

    Born Rena Oppenheim; 16 Jun or 16 Jul?

    Born May 1890 according to U.S. 1900 Census; also 16 Jun 1890 in California Death Index

    Renee married Jerome Davis Rosenberg 18 Jan 1909, New York City, New York, New York, United States. Jerome (son of Morris Rosenberg and Sophie Davis) was born 22 Mar 1882, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 27 Mar 1923, New York City, New York, New York, United States; was buried 29 Mar 1923, Mount Neboh Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States. [Group Sheet]

    Children:
    1. 19. Jerome Davis Ross  Descendancy chart to this point was born 10 Feb 1911, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 11 Feb 2012, New York City, New York, New York, United States.
    2. 20. Burt Ross  Descendancy chart to this point was born 8 Nov 1913, , , New York, United States; died 26 Mar 1999, Holland, Bucks, Pennsylvania, United States.

    Renee married Bernhardt Emil Mitler 10 Aug 1938. Bernhardt (son of Samuel O. Mitler and Ernestine Sternberg) was born 8 Sep 1888, Peoria, Peoria, Illinois, United States; died 5 May 1965, New York City, New York, New York, United States. [Group Sheet]


  5. 12.  Minnie Hirshfeld Descendancy chart to this point (5.Mollie2, 1.Fannie1) was born 31 Jan 1878, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 11 May 1973, New York City, New York, New York, United States; was buried , Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Hawthorne, Westchester, New York.

    Notes:

    Born at 311 West 32nd Street

    surname also Hershfield

    15 Apr 1910 and 1 Jan 1920 resided with mother

    Died at age 96

    Minnie married Henry M. Cohen 29 Dec 1902, New York City, New York, New York, United States. Henry (son of Isidor Cohen and Jeannette Posner) was born 14 Apr 1874, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 10 Nov 1936; was buried , Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Hawthorne, Westchester, New York. [Group Sheet]

    Children:
    1. 21. Ethel Cohen  Descendancy chart to this point was born 16 Mar 1908, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 30 Dec 1997, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States.

  6. 13.  Milton Hirshfeld Descendancy chart to this point (5.Mollie2, 1.Fannie1) was born 12 Jan 1881, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 29 Aug 1929, New York City, New York, New York, United States; was buried 1 Sep 1929, Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States.

    Notes:

    Born at 150 East Broadway

    names also spelled Melton Herschfield

    15 Apr 1910 and 1 Jan 1920 resided with mother

    Died at Prebyterian Hospital; residence was 25 West 73rd Street; single


  7. 14.  Jerome Hirshfeld Descendancy chart to this point (5.Mollie2, 1.Fannie1) was born 13 Sep 1886, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 1 Mar 1964, New York City, New York, New York, United States.

    Notes:

    15 Apr 1910/1 Jan 1920 resided with mother

    invented dumb waiter, roller telephone holders, machine to wrap sugar cubes' had office on Madison Avenue

    Jerome married Agnes Streit Schloeder. Agnes (daughter of Charles Nicholas Schloeder and Agnes Streit) was born 13 Apr 1892, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 2 Nov 1979, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States; was buried 5 Nov 1979, Salt Lake City Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States. [Group Sheet]

    Children:
    1. 22. Melita Dagmar Michell  Descendancy chart to this point was born 4 Mar 1913, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 3 May 2005, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States; was buried 7 May 2005, Salt Lake City Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States.

    Jerome married Diana Adler Shapiro 15 Apr 1930/26 Sep 1933. Diana (daughter of Doctor Julius Shapiro and Rebecca Gittelson) was born 5 Aug 1892, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 28 Sep 1947, New York City, New York, New York, United States. [Group Sheet]


  8. 15.  Hugo Sidney Radt, Senior Descendancy chart to this point (6.Ida2, 1.Fannie1) was born 18 Oct 1887, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died Nov 1980, Deerfield, Lake, Illinois, United States; was buried , Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States.

    Hugo married Rose Stern. Rose (daughter of Louis Stern and Lola) was born 2 Jun 1896, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died Sep 1974, Hewlett, Nassau, New York, United States; was buried , Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States. [Group Sheet]

    Children:
    1. 23. Nancy M. Radt  Descendancy chart to this point was born 15 Jul 1927, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 17 May 2019, San Rafael, Marin, California, United States.
    2. 24. Hugo Sidney Radt, Junior  Descendancy chart to this point was born 11 Mar 1929, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 19 Apr 1999, Buffalo, Erie, New York, United States.


Generation: 4

  1. 16.  Daisy Constance Oppenheim Descendancy chart to this point (8.Jesse3, 3.Bertha2, 1.Fannie1) was born 27 Feb 1910, New York City, New York, New York, United States.

    Notes:

    age 1/12 according to 1910 U.S. Census

    Daisy married Walter Charles Blum 24 Apr 1936, New York City, New York, New York, United States. Walter (son of Charles Blum and Eva Kalick) was born 31 Jul 1904, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 22 Jun 1990, Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States. [Group Sheet]


  2. 17.  Jesse Paul Oppenheim, Junior Descendancy chart to this point (8.Jesse3, 3.Bertha2, 1.Fannie1) was born 9 Feb 1913, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 14 Oct 2005, West Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States.

    Jesse married Ann Whittington. Ann (daughter of Charles Roy Whittington and Gretchen Mae Nichols) was born 15 Oct 1912, Dinuba, Tulare, California, United States; died 29 Nov 1997, Mill Valley, Marin, California, United States. [Group Sheet]

    Jesse married Geraldine Hokit. Geraldine (daughter of Ed D Hokit and Mary E. Pyron) was born 12 Jan 1914, , , Oklahoma, United States; died 24 May 1989, North Hills, Los Angeles, California, United States. [Group Sheet]


  3. 18.  Bertha Jill Oppenheim Descendancy chart to this point (8.Jesse3, 3.Bertha2, 1.Fannie1) was born 24 Feb 1919, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 17 Sep 1996.

    Notes:

    age 11/12 according to U.S. 1920 Census

    Bertha married Alfred Joseph de Grazia, Junior 11 May 1942, , Cook, Illinois, United States; divorced Yes, date unknown. Alfred (son of Alfred Joseph de Grazia, Senior and Catherine Lupo Cardinale) was born 29 Dec 1919, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States; died 13 Jul 2014, La Ferte-Bernard, Sarthe, France. [Group Sheet]

    Children:
    1. 25. Victoria F. de Grazia  Descendancy chart to this point
    2. 26. Jessica Maria de Grazia  Descendancy chart to this point
    3. 27. Paul Rafael de Grazia  Descendancy chart to this point was born 25 Nov 1949; died 10 Oct 2015.
    4. 28. John de Grazia  Descendancy chart to this point was born 1951, Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States; died 30 Sep 2020, Princeton, Mercer, New Jersey, United States.
    5. 29. Chris de Grazia  Descendancy chart to this point died 2019.
    6. 30. Carl de Grazia  Descendancy chart to this point
    7. 31. Catherine de Grazia  Descendancy chart to this point

  4. 19.  Jerome Davis Ross Descendancy chart to this point (11.Renee3, 3.Bertha2, 1.Fannie1) was born 10 Feb 1911, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 11 Feb 2012, New York City, New York, New York, United States.

    Notes:

    Born Jerome Davis Rosenberg, Junior; legally changed surname to Ross

    cremated; ashes in Washington Cemetery in Cohen-Oppenheim Plot

    JEROME D. ROSS
    Obituary
    ROSS--Jerome D., died February 11, 2012, aged 101. He enjoyed a long career in television beginning in its 'golden age', as principal writer of such shows as "I Remember Mama," "Mr. Peepers," "Alcoa Hour," "Westinghouse," "Studio One," "Playhouse 90," "Kraft Suspense," "Philco," "General Electric Theater," "Hallmark Hall of Fame," "The Untouchables, "Naked City," "Outer Limits," "Defenders," "Mission Impossible," "Marcus Welby." Winner of two Edgar Awards. Survived by son Andrew Ross, daughter Sarah Mallery, grandchildren Chris and Elizabeth Mallery. Husband to Anne Van Doren Ross and Henriette Lubart Ross, both deceased.

    Published in The New York Times on Feb. 21, 2012
    - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=jerome-d-ross&pid=156023774#sthash.RcA9dnc7.dpuf


    “I remember giving up smoking at the same time I was struggling with some script,” the television writer Jerome Ross told me some years ago. “The combination was rather difficult.” But the effort was worth it. Ross, who died on February 11, one day after his 101st birthday, may have been the first centenarian among the significant Golden Age dramatists, and will likely remain the only one.

    Never a mainstay on one of the major live anthologies, Ross nevertheless sold scripts to nearly all of the big ones – Cameo Theatre, The Philco/Goodyear Television Playhouse, Studio One, Robert Montgomery Presents, The Alcoa Hour, Armstrong Circle Theater, Matinee Theater, The DuPont Show of the Week. He also wrote for the live comedies Mama, Jamie, and Mister Peepers.

    Like his contemporary David Shaw, Ross was versatile, prolific, and largely anonymous. His work was difficult to pin down in terms of consistent themes or quality. Ross’s two episodes of The Defenders and his only entry in The Outer Limits are undistinguished by the lofty standards of those series; his scripts for The Untouchables, early in the series’ run, are solid but unexceptional.

    And yet Ross contributed a remarkable teleplay to Arrest and Trial, a favorite of both mine and of Ralph Senensky, its director: “Funny Man With a Monkey,” a frank study of heroin addiction that corrals the horrifying energy of Mickey Rooney within the role of a flaming-out junkie nightclub comedian. Ross learned of John F. Kennedy’s assassination on the set of that show, from a crying Mickey Rooney. (Coincidentally, the other writer who contributed to “Funny Man,” Bruce Howard – who wrote the stand-up bits for Rooney’s character – passed away on January 30 at 86.)

    Other noteworthy Ross efforts include his only episode of Way Out, “20/20,” a spooky piece about haunted eyeglasses and a taxidermist’s stuffed animals that come back to life; and “Family Man,” his only episode of Brenner, a story of a family who learns that their patriarch (Martin Balsam) is a mafioso marked for death. Ross was one of the ex-newsmen that Adrian Spies reunited to write for his rich, authentic newspaper drama, Saints and Sinners, although the series lasted only long enough for Ross to contribute one strong episode, “Ten Days For a Shirt-Tail,” in which the hero (Nick Adams) experiences the violence of jail life after refusing to reveal a source.

    In 1965 Ross wrote the longest Dr. Kildare ever, a seven-parter for the show’s final serialized season. His papers, which he donated to the University of Wisconsin, Madison, hint at some intriguing uncredited work around this time. Ross was probably the “Perry Bleecker” (a pseudonym, assuming that’s what it is, that pinpoints a West Village intersection) who wrote the first draft of one of the best early episodes of The Fugitive, “Come Watch Me Die”; and he may have done substantial uncredited writing on “Final Escape,” the famous Alfred Hitchcock Hour in which a convict (Edd Byrnes) attempts to smuggle himself out of prison in a coffin. (Ross never had a feature credit, but he wrote three unproduced screenplays, which are available in the Madison collection.)

    A devoted New Yorker, Ross enjoyed the life of a live television writer. He shared an agent, Blanche Gaines, with Rod Serling and Frank D. Gilroy, and she looked out for him. He got to do things like hang around with beauty pageant contestants before writing “The Prizewinner” (for Goodyear Playhouse, in 1955), and drive down to Washington, D.C., with his son for a day, to research material for an Armstrong Circle Theater at the FBI, where Clyde Tolson gave him a tour. Late in his career (if not his life), after the work in New York dried up, Ross moved to Los Angeles – “an enormous thing, which I kept delaying and delaying” – and settled in as a house writer for David Victor’s medical drama Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969-1976) for the length of its long run.

    Like the show overall, Ross’s writing for Marcus Welby was fair-to-middling. The standout scripts were two tender romances, “The White Cane” (about a young blind couple who founder after the boy regains his sight) and “Unto the Next Generation” (about parents who must decide whether to have a second child, knowing that it could be afflicted with the same genetic disease that killed their first), although Ross earned his historical footnote on Welby as the author of one of Steven Spielberg’s first directorial assignments, the episode “The Daredevil Gesture.” Also during this period, he was a story editor on Earl Hamner’s short-lived comedy-drama, Apple’s Way (1974-1975). After a time, though, “it just got interminable on the Coast,” and Ross fled the “endless stupid rewrites” and returned to New York.

    On a frigid winter day in early 2003, I ventured up to Ross’s Upper West Side apartment in the hope of conducting a detailed oral history. Already, Ross was shrunken and hobbled by age, in the hands of caregivers and foggy about most of his television work. In one of those sad quirks of senility, however, Ross was able to remember the initial years of his career with some clarity. Although the interview was more fragmentary than I had hoped it would be, I have reproduced the best portions of it below.

    *

    Jerry, how did you begin as a writer?

    I started as a cub reporter for the New York Post. This is in the days when there were five or six evening newspapers, and it was absolutely invaluable training. I covered crime stories, bank stories. And about six months on what was then called ship news. This is before the days of air travel, of course, so every incoming celebrity or politician or statesman had to come in by boat. The regulars, of which I was one, would go down every morning at six o’clock on the cutter, to what was called “quarantine” on Sandy Hook, and board the boat. We’d have a list of celebrities to interview.

    That was really where I started. In the course of it, the 1929 crash happened, and deflation was so severe that the city editor of the second largest evening paper, the New York Post, was making something like fifty dollars a week. Everybody had been cut back. An elderly uncle of my mother’s, who came in every day on the train from Long Island, was used to traveling in with an early radio producer, who was looking for somebody to write a children’s show called Tom Mix, based on the western [star]. My mother’s uncle, knowing nothing about radio or writing, said, “I have a young nephew . . .”

    Anyway, this was a job I had, writing – I rather think it was five fifteen-minute programs a day. So I sat up all one night and wrote one, and thought this was an awfully easy way to make a hundred and fifty dollars a week, which would have been three times what the city editor of my newspaper was getting. After a while, it seemed more reasonable to resign my newspaper career and get into radio.

    The only radio credit I could verify was something called Society Girl.

    That was interesting. That was a soap opera that a dear friend of mine, a collaborator, David Davidson and I, wrote. We hated the leading lady, who couldn’t act at all. So we wrote several letters, presumably fan letters, saying how much we liked the show, but we didn’t like the leading lady. Rather nasty! It didn’t go, the show.

    David Davidson is one of my favorite unknown television writers, especially on the newspaper drama Saints and Sinners. What do you remember about him?

    He was a newspaperman, too. We met working on the Post. A big story broke in the Bronx, we both made a dash for a telephone, to phone in the story, and we began fighting as to who had the rights to the phone, and it turned out we both worked for the same paper! That’s how we met.

    Then, in the early fifties, television came in, and so I gradually lapsed over into it. Particularly, there was a show called Mama, a very popular show based on Van Druten’s very successful play. I worked on that with Frank Gabrielson. He was an excellent writer, and I worked with him, and did an awful lot of them. I did more shows, I think, than most. About 125 shows over about four years. That was the TV version. It started, I think, as a radio show.

    What were the rules for writing Mama?

    It was a warm, lovable family show. Nobody could do any wrong. Really, the friendly – well, this happens today, too. Any popular show becomes almost a unit of friendship. Writers were allowed much more flexibility in those days. We could go on the set, and all that sort of thing.

    There was a period in Hollywood where there were strict limits set on the number of writers who could be on the set for x number of minutes. This was following various conflicts, so it all had to be spelled out in the next union contract. But we did have a Writer’s Guild strike. It was called the Radio Writers Guild in those days, and I think I was either the first or second president of it here.

    You were also involved with the Television Academy.

    Ed [Sullivan] and I and several other people met, perhaps monthly, getting this thing underway, at Toots Shor’s. Toots was a favorite of Ed Sullivan. [We] read our monthly report, with a defecit of two or three thousand dollars, or whatever. Ed Sullivan said, let’s make up the defecit, for goodness sake, and he took out the biggest bankroll I’d ever seen, and peeled off – he said, “Let’s all chip in.” Then he caught the look of horror on my face, I think, and said, “Well, those who can afford it.” This was the Academy.

    Did you know Ed Sullivan well?

    Not very well, no. I can’t remember where we met. I had something to do with his show when he was on the air, in the radio days. I think I arranged to have William Lyon Phelps of Yale on the show for some reason. I was involved off and on, but I can’t recall that I wrote anything.

    How did the television industry’s shift from New York to Los Angeles in the sixties affect you?

    A whole group went to Hollywood about the same time. This happened for all of us, increasingly, as television shifted to Hollywood, we would go out to do a show. Many of us all stayed, in those days, at a hotel called the Montecito. This was a famous place for New York actors, directors, and writers, because it was so cheap, as compared with the decent hotels. I had my whole family out one summer. Dick Kiley taught my kids how to dive in the hotel pool. Sidney Poitier was staying at the hotel with us, because in those days, he wouldn’t have tried to get into the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. That just didn’t happen in the fifties – even Sidney Poitier wasn’t going to allow himself to be humiliated.

    When Rod Serling died, and he died really at the top of his career, in Ithaca or near there, with the family, the funeral was held in the East. I think Carol stayed on in the East, but there was a memorial service in Hollywood or Beverly Hills, which was announced in the paper. And Rod’s agent and I were the only people to turn up at the memorial service in L.A. It was shocking. Nobody took the trouble – you know, Rod was dead, so what the hell.

    Do you have any favorite shows from the Hollywood half of your career?

    I remember this Mission: Impossible, “Operation: Rogosh,” which was very good. The difficulty of letting complications box you in a corner, and then having to figure it out. “Soldier in Love” [a Hallmark Hall of Fame with Jean Simmons] was a good thing.

    On the whole, are you satisfied with your career in television?

    At 92, which I am now, I look back and think I should have stayed writing plays in New York. [I wrote plays that] tried out. Nothing that ever reached Broadway. I did a play called Man in the Zoo, a year or so after I graduated from Yale in 1931, which was very well received. And then I spent a year rewriting it for Broadway, but it never – I think the producer, Crosby Gaige, died, and that was the end of that.


    4 Responses to “Obituary: Jerome Ross (1911-2012)”


    Moira Finnie Says:

    March 1, 2012 at 7:29 pm
    Your appreciative yet honest assessments of people and programs past are why I come here. Your insightful interview with Jerome Ross and others from the period when television was relatively new always make me appreciate some aspect of that era anew.

    How heartbreaking to think of the sparse attendance at that memorial service for Rod Serling–I grew up in the Finger Lakes, knowing family and friends of the Serlings and I can tell you that his loss at only 50 was felt deeply by many residents of that relatively quiet corner of New York State, in part because it was a spot that he returned to repeatedly in his writing by name or by conveying the appeal of small town life and its limitations and also because of their warmth and kindness despite what must have been overwhelming success and the pressure that comes with it.

    I hope that Jerome Ross is remembered fondly by those who knew him. I only recently looked him up after seeing two remarkably violent, mordantly funny and poignant episodes of The Untouchables written by him: “Ma Barker and Her Boys” (with Claire Trevor in the lead) and The Doreen Maney Story (with Anne Francis as one half of a deadly pair of “lovebirds”). Thank you for writing more about him and bringing him alive here for another moment.
    Cheers,

    Moira

    Reply



    patricia hendryx Says:

    June 2, 2012 at 11:47 am
    Jerry Ross and his wife Ann were dear friends of mine.I really apreciate the details of those early television days of which we were a part. Thank you for your Ross interview. Patricia Hendryx

    Reply


    Sarah Mallery Says:

    August 28, 2012 at 8:11 pm
    Pat,
    This is Jerry’s daughter, Sally. I just posted a longer comment to the author of this wonderful piece. My daughter Liz found it and forwarded it to me today.

    Reply




    Sarah Mallery Says:

    August 28, 2012 at 8:09 pm
    Thank you so much for giving the internet world such a detailed, appreciative article about my father, Jerome Ross. Yes, although he was ‘unknown’ to the general public, when my brother Andrew and I gave him an 100th birthday party, we presented our guests with his credits( three pages, double columned), along with a copy of a play he had written at the age of 93 which was ‘read’ Off Broadway by the likes of Rosemary Harris and Mark Linn Baker.
    Sarah Ross Mallery (S.R. Mallery, author)

    Jerome married Anne Van Doren. Anne (daughter of Carl Clinton Van Doren and Irita Bradford) was born Abt 1916, , , New York, United States; died Aft 1 Aug 1954. [Group Sheet]

    Children:
    1. 32. Andrew Brooks Ross  Descendancy chart to this point
    2. 33. Sarah G. Ross  Descendancy chart to this point

    Jerome married Henriette d'Arlin Aft 1955. Henriette was born 3 Dec 1915, Beruit, , Lebanan; died 21 Apr 2006, New York City, New York, New York, United States. [Group Sheet]


  5. 20.  Burt Ross Descendancy chart to this point (11.Renee3, 3.Bertha2, 1.Fannie1) was born 8 Nov 1913, , , New York, United States; died 26 Mar 1999, Holland, Bucks, Pennsylvania, United States.

    Notes:

    Born Burt Rosenberg

    Died 23 or 26 Apr 1999 at Twining Village in Assisted Living Facility

    cremated; ashes in Washington Cemetery in Cohen-Oppenheim Plot

    New York Times Articles
    Archives
    Paid Notice: Deaths ROSS, BURT
    Published: March 30, 1999
    ROSS-Burt. On March 26, age 85, at Twining Village, Holland, Pa. Beloved brother of Jerome D. Ross and brother-in-law of Henriette Lubart Ross of New York, uncle of Andrew Ross, New York, and Sarah Ross Mallery, North Hollywood, Calif. We love you and will greatly miss you.


  6. 21.  Ethel Cohen Descendancy chart to this point (12.Minnie3, 5.Mollie2, 1.Fannie1) was born 16 Mar 1908, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 30 Dec 1997, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States.

    Notes:

    Died 29 or 30 Dec 1997?

    Ethel married Lloyd Jeffrey Phillips 26 Jun 1930, New York City, New York, New York, United States. Lloyd (son of David L. Phillips and Gertrude M. Kuhn) was born 10 Sep 1904, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 14 Mar 1964. [Group Sheet]

    Children:
    1. 34. Lloyd James Phillips  Descendancy chart to this point
    2. 35. Anne Phillips  Descendancy chart to this point

  7. 22.  Melita Dagmar Michell Descendancy chart to this point (14.Jerome3, 5.Mollie2, 1.Fannie1) was born 4 Mar 1913, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 3 May 2005, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States; was buried 7 May 2005, Salt Lake City Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States.

    Notes:

    Birth cert. #13239

    Born at Sloane Hospital for Women

    Father was Jerome Hirschfeld according to her mother, Agnes Streit Schloeder

    Used the maiden name, Cohn, until marriage; also the nickname, Millie, until the 1950s.

    Christened Catholic

    Confirmed 25 Mar 1951 in Methodist Church, Hempstead, Nassau, New York

    Died at University of Utah Hospital, Room 403-2 at 12:26 p.m.

    grave dedicated by son, Gerald Edward Molloy

    Melita married William Alfred Molloy, Senior 30 Jun 1937, Hempstead, Nassau, New York, United States. William (son of William Edward Molloy and Florence May Greene) was born 8 Jan 1910, Richmond Hill, Queens, New York, United States; died 2 Oct 1949, Saratoga Springs, Saratoga, New York, United States; was buried 5 Oct 1949, Saint John of Jerusalem Cemetery, Wantagh, Nassau, New York, United States. [Group Sheet]

    Children:
    1. 36. Gerald Edward Molloy  Descendancy chart to this point

  8. 23.  Nancy M. Radt Descendancy chart to this point (15.Hugo3, 6.Ida2, 1.Fannie1) was born 15 Jul 1927, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 17 May 2019, San Rafael, Marin, California, United States.

    Notes:

    1 Apr 1930 age 2 years and 9 months

    Died at home

    Nancy married Joseph Eugene Tanner. Joseph (son of Lipman Tanenbaum and Mary E. Buckley) was born 6 Aug 1926, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States; died 27 Mar 2009, Northbrook, Cook, Illinois, United States. [Group Sheet]

    Children:
    1. 37. Lisa Tanner  Descendancy chart to this point
    2. 38. Margot M. Tanner  Descendancy chart to this point

  9. 24.  Hugo Sidney Radt, Junior Descendancy chart to this point (15.Hugo3, 6.Ida2, 1.Fannie1) was born 11 Mar 1929, New York City, New York, New York, United States; died 19 Apr 1999, Buffalo, Erie, New York, United States.

    Hugo married Clarine P. Mancuso 26 Apr 1958, Buffalo, Erie, New York, United States. Clarine (daughter of Charles J. Mancuso and Frances Peri) was born 24 Sep 1930, Le Roy, Genesee, New York, United States; died 8 Dec 2014, Williamsville, Erie, New York, United States. [Group Sheet]

    Children:
    1. 39. Radt  Descendancy chart to this point
    2. 40. Alicia Rose Radt  Descendancy chart to this point was born 10 May 1959, Kenmore, Erie, New York, United States; died 7 Jul 2007, Buffalo, Erie, New York, United States.