De Cordova's first theater credit was as a performer in
Elmer, the Great (1928). After his graduation from
Harvard Law School in 1933, he gained employment in the
Shubert Theater organization for the next ten years. He was variously a performer, stage manager, stage director, and finally, dialogue director, the last for
Ziegfeld Follies of 1943. He was a dialogue director in five films, including
To Have and Have Not (1944). His first film directing job was
Too Young to Know (1945) for
Warner Brothers. He directed 23 movies. One of the better known was
Bedtime for Bonzo (1951) starring future President
Ronald Reagan and a chimpanzee. He also directed
Rock Hudson,
Errol Flynn,
Tony Curtis,
Audie Murphy,
Yvonne de Carlo,
Bob Hope, and
Humphrey Bogart. Much of his career was at
Universal Studios, where he was known for turning out entertaining pictures quickly, even with difficult actors, and on a low budget. His last film was
Frankie and Johnny (1966) starring
Elvis Presley. De Cordova turned to directing television when there was less call for low-budget movies to serve as the second half of a
double feature. using the name Fred de Cordova. He became producer of the show in 1970 and executive producer in 1984. In a 1981 interview, he described his job as "chief traffic cop, talent scout, No. 1 fan and critic all rolled into one". He was executive producer when the final Carson
Tonight Show signed off on May 22, 1992. He won five
Emmys for his work on the show. During tapings of the
Tonight Show, de Cordova would sit in a chair just beyond the guests' couch so that he could cue Carson directly and speak with him during commercial breaks. By the 1980s, Carson would occasionally speak to de Cordova during the show, although usually the moment would pass so quickly that there would be no time to give de Cordova a microphone or catch him on camera. These awkward exchanges became an object of parody. An episode of
SCTV aired in 1981 featured a sketch of "The Freddie de Cordova Show". The segment was almost an exact copy of the
Tonight Show, except the host's desk was empty; de Cordova conducted all of his interviews from his usual perch off-camera. On the real program in 1988, as a takeoff on the installation of
lights in Wrigley Field, Carson ceremonially installed a light on the edge of the set so that de Cordova could finally be seen. In June 1991, Carson's son Ricky was killed in an automobile accident. A month later, Carson paid tribute to his son at the end of a show. De Cordova was concerned that the show was going long and gave Carson the "wrap it up" sign. Carson was so infuriated that he no longer allowed de Cordova on the studio floor. Despite de Cordova's advanced age and lessened role in the waning days of the Carson period,
Jay Leno kept him on the
Tonight Show as a consultant. This arrangement lasted until 1997, which de Cordova said was far longer than he expected, though he lamented that he was no longer a "big shot". During guest appearances on ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien, comedian Will Ferrell played the role of a deluded Robert Goulet, who believed himself to be a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''. Ferrell's fictional Goulet made references to de Cordova, insisting that de Cordova owed him money, or, conversely, that Goulet owed de Cordova money. In 1995 and 1998, respectively, de Cordova appeared as himself on
The Larry Sanders Show in the fourth-season episode, "Eight," and in the sixth-season episode, "As My Career Lay Dying." The show's character "Artie", a talk show executive producer played by
Rip Torn, is largely based on de Cordova.
Martin Scorsese's 1982 film,
The King of Comedy, about a delusional fan (
Robert De Niro) who kidnaps a late-night talk-show host (
Jerry Lewis), cast de Cordova as the show's producer. ==Personal life and death==