The Producer

Still going strong after more than 40 years in television, JOHN MOFFITT '55 is living proof that there's no business like show business.

JOHN MOFFITT HAS A CONFESSION to make. "Yep, I dye my beard," he says.

"People in Hollywood just don't want to see gray. My hair has stayed pretty dark over the years, so that's almost natural, but the beard gets the full treatment."

Call all those visits to the hairdresser an occupational hazard. As a producer and director Moffitt doesn't appear in front of the cameras, but "ageism is rampant in this business," he says. "If you're over 40, you just can't get work, so I keep thinking every year is the last." At 72, there seems to be no stopping him Just in the past year he acted as executive producer of the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen (for the 12th time) and produced his eighth annual Creative Arts Emmy Awards. He is currently working on the 20th Anniversary Comic Relief special, which will air on HBO and TBS in November. Moffitt created Comic Relief and has produced all eight specials since the first in 1986. During the past four decades Moffitt has carved a big career out of non-primetime viewing, from Hollywood Squares, which he co-produced in its Whoopi Goldberg years, to last November's environmental special Earth to America, to cult hits such as The Hollow Men and Mr.Show. Everything, says Moffitt, that "falls between the cracks."

"I didn't get into sitcoms because I thought it would be boring," says Moffitt, who shares all of his successes with partner Pat Tourk Lee (the widow of his former partner, Bill Lee, who died in 1981). "Little did I know, that's where all the money is."

Moffitt has been working in showbiz since the 19605, when he went from a lowly production assistant job to the directors chair at The Ed Sullivan Show. You wouldn't know it from his resume, though. Despite some impressive credentials from the 19705, such as winning an Emmy for directing the 1976 Emmy Awards, he doesn't list any shows he worked on before 1979— for the same reason he dyes that beard.

Of course, being less than forthcoming about his age wouldn't work if Moffitt couldn't pull it off. Working out with a personal trainer three mornings a week, taking salsa dancing lessons with his wife, Donna, 58, and sailing and going on ski trips whenever possible, Moffitt is in better shape than some 30-year-olds. "The two of us fake it," he says. "We hang out with all these great young people that we work with, and we're also very happy, which has a lot to do with it." Moffitt also attributes his healthy lifestyle to living in Los Angeles: "A lot of my friends on the East Coast have the pot bellies and the three-piece suits and they just feel old. Out here people are just naturally more active and healthier."

Moffitt, who grew up in New Rochelle, New York, never intended to land in Hollywood when he was a kid. In fact, he went to Dartmouth with plans to go into medicine. At the end of freshman year he changed his mind, realizing he had far more fun playing saxophone in the marching band than he did in biology class. His great-aunt, who was paying for his education, immediately cut off his funds when he chose to double-major in drama and English. To help offset the student loans he needed, he worked everywhere from the library to the Hanover Inn, where he and roommate Don Page '55 were waiters. "When we saw cute chicks come in, we'd always give them extra rolls," he says. In his spare time he was in the Barbary Coast student jazz ensemble and was a member of the Dartmouth Players and the Film Society.

Following graduation Moffitt directed training videos as a private in the Army before taking the job at The Ed Sullivan Show in New York. One of his favorite memories? Dining with the Beatles after their famous 1964 appearance. "I sat at a table with George and Ringo, and Ringo was so philosophical, "says Moffitt. "He kept saying things like, 'That was it today. This was the pinnacle of our lives.' He was very melancholy. I'll always remember that."

Moffitt s next big gig after moving to Los Angeles in 1979 was producing and directing Fridays, a sketch comedy series starring then-unknowns Larry David and Michael Richards. Next was the long-running HBO series Not Necessarily the News, which won a record 16 Cable Ace Awards. Since then he's been the go-to guy for networks such as HBO and TBS and comedians such as George Carlin, Dennis Miller and Bill Maher, whose 2004 special VictoryBegins at Home, earned Moffitt his eighth Emmy nomination.

He loves hanging outwith his three children (including Jennifer Moffitt Brook '85 and John Moffitt '88) and five grandchildren, but Moffitt can't see himself relaxing full time. "It's not when I'm going to retire, it's when the business retires me. As long as someone's willing to let me work, I will," he says. "Besides, I don't even play golf."

Big Career Moffitt (I) checkingout Ringo Starr's drumkit on the set of TheEd Sullivan Show;(2) meeting WalterCronkite; (3) withJerry Seinfeld, ChrisRock and Robert Klein;(4) reviewing a scriptwith Gene Kelly;(5) working withRichard Pryor (atright); (6) on the beachwith Annette Funicelloand Frankie Avalon;(7) with the cast ofMonty Python; (8)sharing a laugh withKermit the Frog andJim Henson; (9) withthe Beatles in Miami(Moffitt at far left).

JENNIFER WULFF is a writer for People magazine. She lives in Connecticut.