Howard Harris was a comedy writer whose credits included Copacabana (1947) starring Groucho Marx and Carmen Miranda[1], The Jackie Gleason Show, You Bet Your Life with Groucho Marx, Gilligan's Island, Petticoat Junction, and other popular television shows. The Jackie Gleason Show was a popular television variety show that starred Jackie Gleason and ran in a variety of incarnations, from 1952 to 1970. ... You Bet Your Life was an American radio and television quiz show. ... Julius Henry Marx, known as Groucho Marx (October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977), was an American comedian, working both with his siblings, the Marx Brothers, and on his own. ... The cast of Gilligans Island. ... Petticoat Junction was an American situation comedy that was produced by Filmways, Inc. ...

Harris was born in Manhattan in New York City on February 15, 1912. He went to Fordham Law School for two years which, according to his family, he hated. The summer before his third and final year he got a job writing humorous anecdotes about celebrities for a trade publication. After that experience he dropped out of law school and started writing comedy for radio for Joe Penner and Fred Allen, among others, according to one account from his family. Joe Penner was a 1930s-era radio comic and vaudevillain noted for his catchphrase Wanna buy a duck? and his low hyuck-hyuck laugh. ... He has eyes like Venetian blinds and a tongue like an adder — radio/television critic John Crosby about humourist Fred Allen, portrayed here by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld. ...

Before the Second World War, Harris moved to Hollywood where he was considered one of the hottest comedy writers around. In 1943 he was a screenwriter for Higher and Higher starring Frank Sinatra, according to the Rotten Tomatoes web site[2]. In 1947 he was a co-writer for Alfred E. Green's Copacabana. Also, in 1947 Harris wrote the story for a comedy called Linda Be Good, according to the Internet Movie Database (IMB) [3]. IMB also reports that Harris was a writer for The Noose Hangs High[4](1948), starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. William Alexander “Bud” Abbott (October 2, 1897 – April 24, 1974) is a legendary American actor, producer and comedian born in Asbury Park, New Jersey. ... Louis Francis Cristillo aka Lou Costello (March 6, 1906 - March 3, 1959), was an American actor and comedian best known as half of the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, with Bud Abbott. ...

Harris migrated to television and back to New York where he became a comedy writer in 1952 for The Jackie Gleason Show in which he helped to write a segment which featured Gleason as a loud-mouthed, Brooklyn bus driver known as Ralph Kramden. That segment later became the seed for the comedy series, The Honeymooners. While in New York City in 1953, Harris appeared as a guest on What's My Line?, hosted by John Charles Daly and produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. The celebrity panel failed to identify Harris as "Jackie Gleason's Gag Writer." That episode is available for viewing at The Museum of Television & Radio [5] in New York City. The Jackie Gleason Show was a popular television variety show that starred Jackie Gleason and ran in a variety of incarnations, from 1952 to 1970. ... Cover of a book about the Honeymooners. ... Whats My Line? was a weekly panel game show originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. ... John Charles Daly (full given name John Charles Patrick Croghan Daly AKA John Daly) born February 20, 1914 died February 24, 1991), a native of Johannesburg, South Africa was a journalist, game show host, radio personality, actor, and author. ... Mark Goodson (January 14, 1915 – December 18, 1992) was an American television producer born in Sacramento, California. ... Bill Todman (July 31, 1916-July 29, 1979) was an American television producer born in New York City. ...

Harris returned to Hollywood where he wrote a pilot episode for a half-hour show called Bozo the Clown, starring William Bendix. (That episode also can be viewed at The Museum of Television & Radio [6]). Then in the early 1950s, Harris joined Groucho Marx again as a writer for the architypical comedy game show, You Bet Your Life, produced by John Guedel. Harris, who joined the show in its second or third year, continued to write gags for Groucho for more than five years. William Bendix (January 14, 1906 - December 14, 1964) was an American film actor. ...

Later in the mid-1960s Harris wrote for Gilligan's Island starring Bob Denver, Jim Backus and Alan Hale, Jr., and Petticoat Junction.

During his later years Harris continued to write gags but had trouble selling his work as younger comedy writers got television work, leaving older writers like Harris behind.

Harris and his first wife, Jeanne Giddings, had two children. After Jeanne died in 1970, Harris married the then Marion Linden in 1972. They lived in Los Angeles until Harris' death on March 22, 1986.

Harris was also survived by two sisters, including Radie Harris, a longtime gossip columnist for The Hollywood Reporter[7]. Radie Harris (October 24, 1904 - February 22, 2001) was a journalist and newspaper columnist noted for her commentary on entertainment. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...