Richard Bare, director of TV's 'Green Acres' and longtime Newport resident, dies at 101
The Orange County Register
By Michael Hewitt
April 10, 2015
Richard L. Bare, a noted television director who helmed nearly all of “Green Acres” as well as the memorable “Twilight Zone” episode “To Serve Man,” died last week at 101, according to his family.
A 42-year resident of Newport Beach, Bare could boast of a career that spanned seven decades. He worked with Charlie Chaplin, butted heads with Eva Gabor, discovered James Garner and in the late 2000s was still writing and pitching scripts.
Born in Turlock in 1913, Bare grew up in Modesto, where his father was a successful grape farmer. Bare’s fascination with film began early, and as a teenager his father bought him a 35mm movie camera. Bare used it to make a short film with a couple of high school buddies – one of them the father of “Star Wars” creator George Lucas.
Bare left central California in the 1930s for Los Angeles and the nascent USC film school, where he won an award for outstanding short subject in 1934. Unable to break into Hollywood during the Depression, Bare moved to Carmel to run an arthouse theater, where he met and befriended Chaplin.
During World War War II, Bare enlisted and became a captain in the Army Air Forces film unit.
After the war, he returned to USC to teach, where he wrote and directed a short subject, “So You Want to Quit Smoking,” which he sold to Warner Bros. Its success led to a series of 63 “So You Want to ...” comedy shorts starring George O’Hanlon as the hapless Joe McDoakes.
But television was where Bare would find his greatest success. He directed Westerns, the pilot to “77 Sunset Strip,” and episodes of “Twilight Zone” and other shows before spending a year doing “Petticoat Junction.” That led to “Green Acres,” where he spent six years.
BARE, Richard L. (Richard Leland Bare)
Born: 8/12/1913, Turlock, California, U.S.A.
Died: March 28, 2015 Newport Beach, California, U.S.A.
Richard L. Bare’s westerns – director, screenwriter, presenter:
The Adventures of Texas Jack – 1939 [presenter]
Two Gun Troubador – 1939 [director]
Circus Horse – 1947 [director]
The Grass is Greener – 1950 [director]
Return of the Frontiersman – 1950 [director]
So You Want to Be a Cowboy – 1950 [1951 [director, screenwriter]
Cheyenne (TV) – 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962 [director]
Border Showdown – 1956 [director]
The Outlanders – 1956 [director]
The Storm Riders – 1956 [director]
Broken Arrow (TV) – 1956, 1957, 1958 [director]
Shoot-Out at Medicine Bow – 1957 [director]
The Travellers – 1957 [director]
Lawman (TV) – 1958 [director]
Sugarfoot (TV) – 1958 [director]
Colt .45 (TV) – 1958 [director]
Maverick (TV) – 1958, 1958, 1959 [director]
Tombstone Territory (TV) – 1958, 1959 [director]
The Dakotas (TV) – 1963 [director]
The Virginian (TV) – 1963, 1964 [director]
Alias Smith and Jones (TV) – 1972 [director]