Of course, I am not the only person who grew up in and around show business. Neither am I unique in that I worked in the industry – on both sides of the camera, if you will. Yet with the resurgence of “Classic Television,” I realized that I had a unique story to tell, and that is what brought me to write my recently published book Mom, Dad, Me and Classic TV (BearManor Media – available from online booksellers).

My late father, Harry Ackerman, was the Executive Producer of Bewitched, The Flying Nun, Gidget, Hazel, Dennis the Menace, just to name a few. My mother is actress Elinor Donahue. She played Betty, the oldest daughter on Father Knows Best, Andy Griffith’s first girlfriend, Ellie Walker, the “lady pharmacist,” on The Andy Griffith Show, Felix Unger’s (played by Tony Randall) girlfriend, Miriam on The Odd Couple, and so many other roles in television and film.

Peter Ackerman with Elinor Donahue at Marineland

One of their four boys, I grew up in the perfect time, when they were making these shows, and had the opportunity to visit sets, and get to know the actors. Because Hollywood has a short memory, I felt it was also time for me to lift my parent’s contributions to classic television, so that they can remain in the conversation around television history.

What a life I had with them. One of my first memories was seeing my mother on the television (a Father Knows Best rerun) as I sat on her lap. She pointed herself out to me on the tube, and that was it, I got it that my mom was on television. The challenging side to that perspective is that I incorrectly assumed that appearing on television was a rite of passage for every mother. Thus, it was through a conversation with a neighborhood friend, after I asked what time and channel his mother was on, that I learned that what my mother did for a living was unique!

Warm memories surround time with my dad, as well. I loved going to the studio with him, especially to the set of Bewitched. Our family was close with Bewitched star Elizabeth Montgomery, and her then husband Bill Asher, the producer, and a director on the show, along with their children. Crew members took me up for a ride on a camera crane once, and I met all the regularly, Dick Sargent, Agnes Moorehead, and another character, where Liz played a trick on me. Besides playing the witch Samantha, she sometimes portrayed Samantha’s cousin Serena. In different makeup, and acting like the wackier character, “Serena” approached me on the set one day and took me into her confidence, asking me “what is the star of the show really like!” Oblivious to her prank, I told the truth, “Oh, she is a really nice lady!” These are just some of the wonderful memories that I share in my book.

Besides growing up with them, I also talk about my own adventures in television, and what I learned through them. I was an actor for a brief period, and later worked in production. I worked with great stars on commercials and music videos like Burt Lancaster, and Peter Frampton, and eventually I became the Assistant to the Line Producer on two early seasons of the TV series Friends. Working on a hit show, was what awoke me that though I was fulfilled in my own family life, my wife and I have two children, the latter are now adults, I was not fulfilled in my vocation. Not covered in detail in the book, I went through the discern process and ultimately became an Episcopal Priest. Having gone to seminary on the east coast, my family and I made that home, and that is where we now reside, where I serve at a parish in St. Mary’s County, Maryland.

Yet, I love California, and look forward to visiting my mother who still lives there. We share the same birthday week (25 years and a few days apart) and try to celebrate our “days” together, which we are doing in 2024 for the first time since around 2018. In fact, my favorite photo of us together was taken by my dad when we celebrated our birthdays in Palos Verdes in MarineLand! I loved the park, and the area. In that picture, mom looks adoringly at me (I do not think that she is acting), and I in sailing cap, with a plastic marlin in hand, am smiling for the camera.

With the publication of Mom, Dad, Me, and Classic TV I find I get to lift up this wonderful experience of my life, and my parent’s accomplishments. I am also pleased that the book allows me to now be connected again to a period, a genre of television, and a place I still love. If the reader of this article delights in anything that I have shared, I am confident that you will enjoy the book. So, if you want to get away with a simple read, that does not tear down the past, and treats its subjects with love and respect, pick up a copy of Mom, Dad, Me, and Classic TV, and enjoy what we now know were really great days in the medium of television.

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Peter Ackerman was born into the television industry, at the height of his parent's careers. His mother is actress Elinor Donahue, and his late father was television producer Harry Ackerman.

Peter's birth ended up tying him into two of his future vocations. With his parents it was almost a given that he would work in the television industry, but his mother, as an adult, while pregnant with him, was herself baptized at a Saturday evening, Easter Vigil service. On the way home from that service her water broke and she was taken to the hospital where Peter, a future Episcopal priest, was born on Easter Sunday!

Peter followed first in his mother's career as an actor. He did forgettable one line roles on a few cable series produced by The Arthur Company, and everything from one line police officer, bell boy, and hospital orderly in various "Days of Our Lives" episodes. Peter's first big break came from his father who allowed Sally Powers to cast Peter as one of the surfers in "Gidget's Summer Reunion." Peter also appeared on three episodes of "The New Gidget.'

During those later acting roles, and due to his father's back surgery, Peter drove his dad around to various casting and editing sessions and the backstage bug bit him then. His father died soon after that so Peter first began working in television commercial and music video production where he worked on Madonna's "Express Yourself" and Aerosmith's "Janie's Got a Gun" videos (during the latter he got to stand in for Steven Tyler while the rest of the band played around him during a run through!).

Eventually Peter began working in television first as a Production Assistant on "The Human Target" and next on the "Sinatra" miniseries. After this he worked in the Main Television Department of Lorimar TV which later was assumed by Warner Bros. Television. During his time in the latter he was loaned out to pilots as a Production Coordinator, a temporary Writer's Assistant on "Full House," or at times to film casting sessions. Eventually a friend, Line Producer, Todd Stevens, who Peter worked for on a pilot that was not picked up, asked Peter to be his Assistant on "Friends," which Peter did for Seasons 2 and 3.

By this time Peter was married to his non industry wife, and began to discern a different calling. He left the industry and began working with youth through the Episcopal church, specifically in the parish he was attending. At that church he became their Parish Administrator, and through this discerned a call to the priesthood (in the Episcopal Church priests can be male or female, married, with kids, etc.)

Peter went to seminary in 2004 and was ordained a priest in 2007. He opted to remain in Northern VA (near DC) where he had attended the Virginia Theological Seminary and has settled in that area where he serves a parish in nearby Springfield as their rector.

Peter loves his show biz connection, and past and today still uses true anecdotes from his many adventures in "the biz" to liven up his sermons.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Peter Ackerman