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Robert Justman in 2004
Robert Harris "Bob" Justman (13 July 1926 – 28 May 2008; age 81) was one of the pioneers behind the Star Trek phenomenon as a producer and, initially, an assistant director on Star Trek: The Original Series. He later had a hand in creating Star Trek: The Next Generation as that show's Supervising Producer.
Early life and career
Justman was born in New York City and enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II. He served two years and was discharged as a Radioman Third Class. He then attended the University of California in Los Angeles before entering a career in film and television production.
Early in his career, Justman served as a production assistant on such films as 1951's The Scarf (featuring Celia Lovsky), New Mexico (featuring Jeff Corey and John Hoyt), M (featuring Norman Lloyd and William Schallert), and He Ran All the Way (also with Norman Lloyd), 1952's Japanese War Bride, Red Planet Mars, and Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd, and 1953's The Moon Is Blue and The Moonlighter. He then moved on to become a television producer and an assistant director for both film and television projects.
As an assistant director, Justman worked with director Robert Aldrich on several projects. They first worked together on the 1952-53 NBC series The Doctor, after which they collaborated on such films as Kiss Me Deadly (1955) and Attack (1956, featuring William Smithers). Justman's other assistant directorial film projects include the classics The Big Combo (1955, featuring John Hoyt and Whit Bissell), Blood Alley (starring Paul Fix), While the City Sleeps (1956, with Celia Lovsky), Green Mansions (1959, starring Nehemiah Persoff), and 1962's Mutiny on the Bounty (featuring Antoinette Bower, Torin Thatcher and stunts by Paul Baxley).
Justman was also an assistant director on television shows such as I Married Joan, Letter to Loretta, Lassie, The Thin Man, One Step Beyond, and The Outer Limits. He served as a Production Manager on the latter series in 1964 and appeared in the episode "A Feasibility Study" (directed by Byron Haskin, written by Joseph Stefano, and starring David Opatoshu) that same year. In addition, Justman was both an associate producer and assistant director on the classic series The Adventures of Superman. He worked on this series from 1953 through its cancellation in 1958, and was an assistant director on the show during its 1954-55 season.
Later career
Star Trek
In 1964, Justman was hired by Gene Roddenberry as Associate Producer (with Byron Haskin) and Assistant Director for "The Cage", the first pilot episode of Roddenberry's Star Trek. When NBC rejected "The Cage" but allowed Roddenberry to make a second attempt at a pilot, Justman was brought back as Associate Producer and Assistant Director for "Where No Man Has Gone Before". NBC accepted this pilot and picked up the series, and Justman was brought aboard as an Associate Producer on the show.
Justman was creator Gene Roddenberry's right-hand man on Star Trek, managing the series along with Gene L. Coon and Herbert F. Solow. At first, Justman shared Associate Producer responsibilities with John D.F. Black, but Black left the series after the first season episode "Miri". While Roddenberry, Black, and D.C. Fontana focused on the scripts, Justman was the producer on the set. He handled much of the hiring and firing of the production staff, as well as various other functions including budget, set dressing, and props.
Justman was Star Trek's Co-Producer for the first fourteen episodes of its third season, after which he resigned, believing the series had declined in production and script quality. He also felt the show was receiving poor treatment by NBC, which slashed its budget during the third season.[1]
Other projects
The two Star Trek pilots were Justman's last projects as an assistant director; he thereafter began to focus on producing. He was briefly an associate producer on Mission: Impossible, which, like Star Trek, was produced by Desilu. In late 1968, working under Herbert Solow at MGM, Justman produced the short-lived NBC adventure series Then Came Bronson. Directors on the series included Jud Taylor, Marvin Chomsky, Ralph Senensky, Robert Butler, Lou Antonio, Russ Mayberry, Corey Allen and Michael O'Herlihy. Writers included Don Ingalls, D.C. Fontana, Rik Vollaerts, Meyer Dolinsky and Robert Sabaroff. He again worked with Solow on another short-lived NBC series, Man from Atlantis, in 1977. Directors here included Marc Daniels, while John D.F. Black and Jerry Sohl were among the writers of the series.
During the 1972-73 TV season, Justman executive produced Assignment: Munich, the pilot for what became the short-lived ABC series Assignment Vienna. Also during this time, Justman produced the NBC adventure series Search, which lasted for one season.
Justman reunited with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry in 1974 to produce the science fiction pilot, Planet Earth. Marc Daniels directed this pilot, which starred such Star Trek alumni as Majel Barrett, Ted Cassidy, Diana Muldaur and Patricia Smith. However, the pilot was not picked up as a series.
In 1979, Justman was Producer and Executive in Charge of Production on Gideon's Trumpet, a two-hour Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie featuring David Clennon, Jerry Hardin, and Richard Lineback. Justman then produced the NBC drama series McClain's Law and the ABC series MacGruder and Loud. He also produced the 1983 TV movie Emergency Room, which starred a pre-TNG LeVar Burton and a post-TOS Gary Lockwood. Justman's last non-Trek production was the 1986 TV movie Dark Mansions, featuring Byron Morrow.
Return to Trek
The shuttlecraft Justman as seen in TNG: "Gambit, Part II".
Nearly two decades after leaving the original Star Trek, Justman returned to the franchise as Supervising Producer on Star Trek: The Next Generation during most of its first season. Justman was one of the driving forces in the formation of this series, influencing the creation of the characters and the casting. It was Justman who discovered and pushed for the casting of Patrick Stewart for the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard. As the first season was winding down, however, Justman decided to retire. For the last eight episodes of the season, he was credited as a Consulting Producer. He left the series after the first season and effectively retired from his nearly 40-year-long career in the entertainment industry.
Despite leaving TNG early, Justman's legacy can be seen later in the series: executive producer Rick Berman named the shuttlecraft Justman in honor of the former producer and director. The Justman was first seen in the sixth season episode "Suspicions" and appeared again in season seven's "Gambit, Part II".
In 1996 Justman and Herbert Solow wrote and published Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, a book which chronicles their work on the original Star Trek series. Most recently, Justman was a technical consultant for CBS Digital for the "remastering" on the original Star Trek episodes.
Death
Justman died at his home in Los Angeles due to complications from Parkinson's disease. He was 81 years old. He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Jacqueline, and their three children: a daughter, Jennifer, and two sons, Jonathan and William. Also surviving Justman is his brother, Anthony; his sisters, Estelle Osborne and Jill Roach; and five grandchildren. [2]
External links
- Robert Justman at Wikipedia
- Template:IMDb-link