Nat Perrin (March 15, 1905 – May 9, 1998) was an American comedy film, television, and radio screenwriter, producer, and director, who contributed gags and storylines to several Marx Brothers films and co-wrote the script for the film Hellzapoppin' (1941) adapted from the stage musical. He is credited with writing the screenplay or story outline for over 25 films, including The Big Store (1941), The Great Morgan (1945), and Song of the Thin Man (1947), as well as several television series.
Biography
Perrin was a registered attorney who never practiced; he instead worked in the publicity department for Warner Bros. in 1930. He often told the story of how he made his way into Groucho Marx's dressing room in 1931 with a forged letter of introduction from Moss Hart. Groucho was impressed with Perrin, and arranged for him to be hired by Paramount Pictures for the film Monkey Business (1931). The two went on to become lifelong friends. In the late 1930s, Perrin produced for Columbia Pictures, moving to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the 1940s.
In the early 1950s, he became a producer for such TV shows as The Red Skelton Show (run 1951–1971) and the anthology series Death Valley Days (run 1952–1970). He produced and was head writer for The Addams Family series from 1964–1966.
His lifelong friendship with Groucho Marx, for whom he also wrote the Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel radio shows, came to a close when Perrin served as temporary conservator of the comedian's estate in 1977.
