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. The two became close friends. Perrin went on to write for the Marx Brothers' films
Monkey Business and
Duck Soup. Perrin contributed gags, punchlines, pratfalls and plots for other comedians including
Buster Keaton,
Lou Costello,
Bob Hope,
Gracie Allen,
Eddie Cantor and
Red Skelton. 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. == References ==