Howard Merrill, 85; Child Actor in Silent Movies, Scriptwriter

Howard Merrill, 85, a child actor in 58 silent movies by age 11 who went on to write for radio and TV, including such shows as “Get Smart,” died of undisclosed causes April 20 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Introduced to acting at age 3, he made it into “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” for his record number of movies, and for making 487 radio broadcasts on 38 shows by the time he was 14.

In his teens, Merrill switched to writing and had a syndicated newspaper column titled “This Minute.” He also contributed scripts to radio and wrote for some of TV’s early programs, including “You Are There” and “Newsweek Views the News.”

Merrill wrote for such comedy series as “I Love Lucy,” “The Odd Couple,” “The Andy Griffith Show,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and “Gilligan’s Island.” He produced the 1958 Broadway musical “Oh Captain!”