- John Shrum was the Art Director for Art Linkletter's "Truth or Consequences" on NBC television. John's early career had been in the art department at Paramount Studios, where he was also used at Paramount's KTLA television division. NBC hired Shrum from KTLA to add to their art department staff.
- Johnny Carson's wife, Joanna, was a member of the Thalians. This illustrious group of showbiz women held an annual fundraising theatrical show featuring a number of stars. Because of his association with the "Tonight Show", John Shrum won the lottery as the groups' Production Designer. The Johnny Carson scene docked scenery became the scenery featured in the stage spectacular. Carson always footed the charges incurred by NBC utilizing the transportation trucking charges, Johnny Rose's scene dock crew, graphic and scenic charges for painting scenery and drops, and for the construction shop's carpenters and special effects wizards providing specialty flying stunts and scenic challenges.
- Johnny Carson's wife, Joanna, instigated a new set for Johnny Carson's nightly interview program. Fred DeCordava called a meeting with Shrum, asking him for a presentation of set concepts. Up in his Art Department office, Shrum called an art pow-wow creative meeting with Ed Flesh, Hub Braden and Mary Weaver Dodson. Shrum designed five models (approximately two weeks for concept delivery). Carson took the concept set models home so that Joanna could choose the winning set design.
- Upon moving the "Tonight Show" to Burbank, the production offices were located in a row of second floor offices, formerly occupied by the NBC art department, (which carpenters and painters had nick-named "fairy land heaven" - because these production offices were located above the first floor wardrobe and graphic arts office complex). John Shrum's second floor office was adjacent Fred DeCordava's office. The air conditioning ducts connected all the offices above the office ceilings. Usually with conversations being loud, John learned many secrets - negotiations, prospective guest schedules. John enjoyed his pet parrot and decided to bring his parrot, from home, to the office occasionally. John would place the cage on top of an apple-box riser so the cage, and it's inhabitant, could be closer to the air condition ceiling duct. The yakking parrot's talk could now entertain Fred DeCordava, while John was on stage supervising show set-ups.
- Milt Larsen and John worked together on Art Linkletter's "Truth or Consequences" TV show forming a long friendship with mutual interests. When Milt and his brother Bill Jr. Initiated plans for a Magician"s Club, John's shared interest was utilized to turn an abandoned Hollywood Mansion, below the Yamashiro Hill Top, into the now famous "Hollywood Magic Castle". During the 40's war, the mansion had been a brothel for Marines, sailors and soldiers on leave. Having a notorious past intrigued the three musketeers! With John's creative imagination, the interiors were reconstructed, with the central foyer entrance hall staircase removed. The open stair well area was covered with ceiling and floor framing to create a dining room for the second floor, a grand long bar in place of the grand staircase. David Thorne, an NBC Scenic Artist, painted cherubs on the ceilings. The main entrance relocated under a portico made a novel reception vestibule, where "Open Sesame" gained entrance into the first floor grand bar. Where a ghost named "Irma" performed any request on the grand piano.
- NBC Burbank had one of the largest roster of Art Director talent employed by any studio in the infancy of the electronic transmission era. Film Assistant Art Directors jumped into television art department opportunities, hired as TV Art Directors, bringing MP film production techniques into the new medium of television. Spencer Davies, Harold Michaelson, Ray Beal, Jay Krause, and John Shrum were former members of Film Art Departmenr Staffs (Paramount, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, Columbia, MGM, Universal). John Shrum was usually given the typical game show projects because of his wonderful sense of humor dealing with the Producer's and their writer's crazy requests. John also did "Queen For A Day" at the Sunset and Vine NBC Studio.
- With Milt and Bill, Jr Larsen Enterprise of developing projects, John Shrum was involved with the Santa Monica "English Style Mayfair Music Hall".
- The original sets designed for NBC's 1965 new day-time "soap" drama "Days Of Our Lives" were by John Shrum. John designed, supervising construction, and decorated the sets for the pilot episode, becoming the "Production Designer" for the then new show. In 1965, network art departments designers were designated as Art Directors. Not until the mid 80's were TV designers allowed to receive a Production Design credit (which only the title request from a Producer to the Society of MP & TV Art Directors could be approved and granted as a credit). Shrum remained as the shows Supervising Art Director until Ed Flesh became the show's permanent NBC Staff Art Director, for the following five years. John Shrum was the senior West Coast NBC TV Staff Art Director, training many of his assistant designers to become art directors: Richard James, Dick Stiles, Hub Braden, Mary Ann Biddle, Molly Joseph, Archie Sharp, Roy Christopher, etc. John became the art department's "mother" (one of his nick-names), assigned, (to teach & to train), many talented designers enrolled in the NBC Art Department as assistants art directors.
- John designed-developed the Magic Castle Red color scheme used throughout the Castle's interior decorative wall finish with gold accents. The color formula became a staple order at Sinclair Paints, which also provided paint supplies for the NBC-Burbank TV Studio scenic shop. Frequently, John would order a five gallon mix from the studio's scenic-paint shop; (which the 5 gallons of paint was charged to Shrum's private "telesales" account). The formula for "Magic Castle Red" is as follows: (four) 4 gallons of fire engine red, and (one) 1 gallon of ultramarine blue mixed (boxed) fully combined. Simply five gallons of "Magic Castle Red".
- Milt Larsen took the downtown Los Angeles Women's Club and Theater Building, in the late 70's, turning the theater into the "Variety Arts Theater and Club House". John Shrum, again drawn into the madcap impresario world of Milt Larsen Enterprises, became architectural advisor and decorator. Ernie Evans provided architectural elements which were incorporated into renovating an upstairs small comedy stage and lounge, and the top floor lounge bar, with the restaurant dining room located directly behind the bar-lounge. John discussed plans with his cohort designer friend Hub Braden asking if he had any ideas for a color to paint the main floor theater's interior. Hub was filling in for Tom Trimble's art direction duties on the "Young and The Restless" daytime CBS drama. Just setting up a Parisienne café set, Hub suggested that Shrum should watch "Y&R" to view the current swing set for the "Y&R's" newest intrigue adventure. Shrum had Braden bring a paint sample over to NBC. Shrum had a Carson sketch set scheduled for that week, painting the set the identical peanut-butterscotch hue. After reviewing the "Tonight Show's sketch" paint color on screen, John gave the paint sample to Sinclair Paint Company to match. The Variety Arts Theatre interior was repainted "butterscotch", with variations of the hue used throughout the entire building's upstairs small theater and top floor bar and restaurant. Instead of "Magic Castle Red", Shrum created "Variety Arts Butterscotch" for ordering supplies from Sinclair Paint.
- Charles Lisanby, a CBS New York television scenic designer, transferred to the West Coast in the early 70's to design the half hour week-night NBC "Red Skelton Show". CBS had canceled their hour "Red Skelton Variety Show". NBC picked up the hour CBS canceled show, reducing the show's hour format into thirty minutes. Charles Lisanby replaced the CBS art department staff, Sid Rushakoff and Dick Stiles in the network show exchange. Shrum enviably encountered Charles in the midway hall dividing the NBC facilities construction and scenic shop area; as Shrum made his journey from his mezzanine art department office to the Carson Stage 3 Tonight Show. Charles Lisanby was always dressed in black, from the top of his dyed black hair, to the black socks on his feet and black boots. Charles' stride was similar to a bounce! Wearing a jacket which flared at the hips. Shrum nick named Charles "The Flying Nunn". Shrum, as well, always had a distinctive fashion sense. Shrum usually wore a colorful print pattern vest with a matching bow tie. Occasionally adding a pair of spats, which matched the vest of the day! The two designers meeting mid way in the shop area, were a unique two-some to observe. Charles always carried a brief case, which was a portfolio. Charles would whip out his portfolio, to show and tell, with the latest photos of the last show and sets he had finished! Opening the photo portfolio to Shrum, John would respond, "Charles, upstairs, please!" turning on his heels headed back upstairs to his inner sanctum art department office.
- Nostalgia for the Victorian era, John enjoyed wearing a vest, a bow tie, and spats for a fashion statement. Also interested in magic, minstrel and variety shows, John had a tremendous creative imagination for a television scenic designer and art director. Angie Jones, the NBC Burbank Wardrobe and Costume Department Supervisor, met with Shrum selecting fabrics for his fashion statement. The costume shop's tailors and seamstress would manufacture John's order. In the early 50's, John set up his personal charge account with the costume shop-department to pay for his outfit orders, $75.00! In late 60's's, the wardrobe cost for the vest, bow tie and spats increased in a charge, to $350.00. The wardrobe expense increased to $500.00 in 1974. John ceased ordering his flashy outfits.
- When Hub Braden was scouring the Twentieth Century Fox Beverly Hills studio lot scene dock, he discovered the "Hello Dolly - Harmony Garden restaurant stage set's fabulous long bar" abandoned in the film studios' storage back-lot's scene-dock. The 30' long bar was scheduled for demolition. Braden negotiated with the scene dock to "save the production designer John De Cuir designed Hello Dolly Harmony Garden long bar" - offering the studio built bar prop to John Shrum and Milt Larsen for their "Variety Arts Theatre". Accepting the "gift" John scheduled NBC Transportation to pick up the film set bar units at the 20th Century Fox scene dock, delivering the units to the downtown Los Angeles theater. The "Hello Dolly Harmony Garden" bar was a major feature in the Variety Arts' upstairs top bar-lounge and restaurant, refinished and gilded in Gold Leaf!.
- John always dined for lunch in the executive dining wing of the Burbank NBC Television Commissary. He had a specifically reserved table centered in the executive dining room, where his Tonight Show producer Fred De Cordova and Johnny Carson were seated at their adjacent table. John's favorite desert was a slice of lemon meringue pie. Upon delivery of his lemon meringue pie, John would test the whipped egg white meringue calculating how long the pie had been held in the kitchen. With a whack of his fork, he would snap his fork onto the meringue crown, testing the spring, or the thud of the fork's sound hitting the meringue topping! If the lemon pie didn't pass his "fresh test", the pie piece would be returned to the kitchen!.
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