Aaron Spelling (April 221923 – June 232006) was an American
film and television producer. Spelling
currently holds the world record as the world's most prolific television producer, with 218 producer and executive producer
credits.[1]
Biography
Early life
Spelling was born in Dallas, Texas, to Polish
Jewish immigrant parents, and attended Forest Avenue High School. After serving with the United States Army Air Forces, he attended Southern Methodist University, graduating in 1949. He
married actress Carolyn Jones in 1953, and they moved to California.
Hollywood career and life
Spelling sold his first script to Jane Wyman Theater in 1954. He went on to write for
Dick Powell, Playhouse 90, and Last Man,
amongst others. Later, he also found work as an actor. In total he played screen parts in 22 programs (in several shows, a few
episodes, yet none of his flagships) and perhaps the best known being Gunsmoke between
1956 and 1997. During the 1950s,
Spelling joined Powell's Four Star Productions.
After Powell's death, Spelling formed Thomas-Spelling Productions with Danny Thomas.
Their first success was with the television show The Mod Squad. In total he wrote
for 14 television productions between 1957 and 1974, including
several series with multiple episodes to his credit. He also began a collaboration at this time with associate producer Shelley
Hull, who, aside from "The Mod Squad", worked with Spelling on "The Rookies" and
"Charlie's Angels." Hull also worked with Spelling in 1976 on the hit ABC movie "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble",
starring a young John Travolta. Spelling directed only once, on "The Conchita Vasquez
Story", a 1959 TV Episode of "Wagon Train".
Spelling divorced Jones in 1965 and in 1968 he married Carole Gene
Marer, who took his name as Candy Spelling.[2] He was father of Victoria Davey Spelling and Randall Gene Spelling, both of whom became
actors as teenagers, as Tori Spelling and Randy
Spelling. They appeared in several of their father's productions, most notably in "Beverly Hills, 90210".
In 1991, Spelling bought the home and six acre lot of Bing
Crosby's former Los Angeles house.[3] He demolished the property, and built a 123-room home for the cost of
USD $47,000,000, named "The Manor", which occupies 56,500 square feet (on a
five-acre site) and is the largest single-family dwelling in Hollywood (34°4'23"N
118°25'41"W).[4]
In 1972, he created Aaron Spelling Productions, and
formed another co-production company with Leonard Goldberg. Spelling took his own
company public in 1986 as Spelling Entertainment.
Spelling also produced the NBC daytime soap opera
Sunset Beach from 1997 to 1999, and in one of his few acting roles since the 1960s, played one of Bette's
(Kathleen Noone) ex-husbands for one day in 1997. He also appeared as himself on 27
programs between 1992 and 2005. After 2000, Spelling rarely gave serious interviews, and control of the Spelling
Television company has been directed by his business partner E. Duke Vincent and the company's president, Jonathan
Levin.
In 2004, Spelling was portrayed by Dan Castellaneta in
the NBC film "Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Charlie's Angels".[5]
On January 152006 "Charmed"
became the longest running show with all female leads, surpassing "Laverne and
Shirley".[6]
On April 42007 it was announced that "7th Heaven's" series finale on May 132007 would
be dedicated to Aaron Spelling.[7]
Already every single episode from Season 11, read these words at the beginning of the closing credits: "In memory of Aaron
Spelling".
Notable productions
Spelling worked in some capacity on almost 200 productions beginning with the Zane
Grey Theatre in 1956. His most recognizable contributions to television include Beverly Hills 90210 and its adult spin-off Melrose
Place with Heather Locklear, Starsky
and Hutch, Family, Hotel, The Rookies, Charlie's Angels, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Vega$, Hart
to Hart, Dynasty, The
Colbys, T.J. Hooker, Nightingales, Kindred: The Embraced,
7th Heaven, Charmed, Burke's Law, Honey West, The Mod Squad, and S.W.A.T.. His company also
co-produced the David Lynch series Twin Peaks
(although Spelling himself was not directly involved in its production). He also produced the NBC TV
series Titans with Yasmine Bleeth in
2000 and Summerland in 2005. For all his
golden touches, he also had a miss or two, most notable among them was The San Pedro Beach Bums
in 1977.
He also produced the HBO miniseries And the
Band Played On, based on Randy Shilts's bestseller. The miniseries won an
Emmy Award, Spelling's first. This is regarded as proof that Spelling could please critics as
well as viewers.
Illness, lawsuit, and death
In 2001, Spelling was diagnosed with oral cancer.[8]
On January 282006, Spelling was sued by his former nurse who
sought unspecified damages for 10 claims, including sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, sexual battery, assault,
wrongful termination and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
On June 182006, Spelling suffered a severe stroke at his estate
in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California. He died there five days
later on June 232006, from complications of the stroke, at the age
of 83.[9] A private funeral was held several
days later, and Spelling was interred in a mausoleum in Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City, California.
References
- ^ Aaron Spelling at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Candy Spelling's Website. CandySpelling.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-16.
- ^ Spelling's Widow Fires Back at House Sale Reports. Hollywood.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-07.
- ^ Aaron
Spelling's Widow Puts Infamous Mansion On Market For $150 Million.... HuffingtonPost.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-05.
- ^ Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of "Charlie's Angels". IMDB.com. Retrieved on
2004-03-08.
- ^ Charmed Hits a (Final?) Milestone. TVGuide.com. Retrieved on 2006-01-20.
- ^ 7th Heaven: Will Camdens Reunite for Last Episode?. TVSeriesFinale.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-05.
- ^ Prime time patriarch.
Oralcancerfoundation.org. Retrieved on 2001-07-11.
- ^ Aaron Spelling, Prolific
Television Producer, Dies at 83. NYTimes.com. Retrieved on 2006-06-24.
External links
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