HY AVERBACK
October 21, 1920
Hyman Jack Averback was an accomplished Producer / Director and Actor who was born in Minneapolis and moved to California with his family when he was 9. He graduated from the Edward Clark Academy Theater in 1938 and eventually got a job announcing at KMPC Beverly Hills before World War II.
As part of the Armed Forces Radio Service, he entertained troops in the Pacific with his program of comedy and music. He created the character of Tokyo Mose, a lampoon of Japan's Tokyo Rose.
After his discharge, his big break came when he was hired to announce "The Jack Paar Show”, which replaced Jack Benny on radio for the summer of 1947. He became the announcer for Bob Hope on NBC in September 1948.
His first screen appearance as an actor was under the name Hy Averbach in Cry Danger (1951) starring Dick Powell and Rhonda Fleming.
In October 1951 he made his television debut (as himself) on “Chesterfield Sound Off Time” on NBC.
In October 1953 he created the role of Charlie Apppleby, husband of Lucy’s ‘frenemy’ Caroline, in “Baby Pictures” (ILL S3;E5). Charlie was the manager of a television station. The next time we see Charlie Appleby he will be played by George O'Hanlon (inset photo) in “Lucy and Superman” (S6;E13).
“Dad, I’m gonna make you the Cuban Liberace!” ~ Charlie Pomerantz
Averback returned to the show to play another Charlie, Charlie Pomerantz, in “The Hedda Hopper Story” (S4;E20). Pomerantz was Ricky’s Hollywood Press Agent. The character was named after the West Coast Publicity Agent for Philip Morris, the show’s main sponsor.
In 1954 and 1955, Averback did two episodes of “The Danny Thomas Show,” filmed by Desilu. In late 1958 and early 1959, the Williams’ and the Ricardos’ made reciprocal appearances on each others’ shows.
In May 1955, Averback played Mr. Harmon on an episode of Desilu’s “December Bride”. In 1957, Executive Producer Desi Arnaz appeared on the series as himself.
From 1952 to 1956 he did seven episodes of “Our Miss Brooks,” also filmed at Desilu. He mostly played Roberto Romeo with Gale Gordon as Osgood Conklin.
Hy Averback served as the Announcer for the first episode of “The NBC Comedy Hour” (previously known as “The Colgate Comedy Hour”) in January 1956. That episode also starred William Frawley (Fred Mertz), crossing network lines.
When “Brooks” went off the air, he switched to “Box” - and also moved from acting to behind the cameras as director. He directed two episodes of “The Box Brothers” (aka “The Brothers”) starring Gale Godon, but the show was not a success.
After its failure, he returned to Desilu Studios to direct “The Real McCoys” and ended up directing 102 episodes from 1957 to 1960. He was once again directing an “Our Miss Brooks” co-star; this time Richard Crenna. His work earned him a 1959 Emmy nomination. A 1960 episode he directed featured Doris Singleton (Caroline Appleby, his “Lucy” wife) as a character named Ethel!
Averback is best remembered for directing 20 episodes of “M*A*S*H” (1972-82) which earned him his second and third Emmy nominations.
His final screen project was directing the pilot of “The Last Precinct” in 1986.
He was married to Dorothy Averback. He died on October 14, 1997.
A former announcer, he was the voice of the "M*A*S*H” loudspeaker operator. In one episode, he says
