Television executive and Emmy-nominated producer Andy Friendly died Sunday at 74, according to his family.
Friendly, son of CBS News creator Fred Friendly and brother of producer David Friendly, died in his home in Bel-Air, according to his brother and media reports. No cause of death has been revealed.
The executive helped create the long-running entertainment news series “Entertainment Tonight” as the first producer in 1981. Friendly went on to be VP of primetime programs at CNBC from 1990 to 1995, where he produced talk shows for Tom Snyder, Tim Russert, Richard Pryor, Whoopi Goldberg, Dan Rather and more.
Friendly also served as president of programming and production at King World Productions from 1995 to 2001, where he oversaw the production for first-run syndication of shows like “Oprah Winfrey,” “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy!”
His death follows just months after his wife of 39 years, actress Patricia Crowley, who died at 91. She starred on the 1960s NBC series “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies.”
The longtime producer served as the president of the Hollywood Radio & Television Society. Later in his tenure he also taught as his his alma mater, the USC School of Cinematic Arts, as an adjunct professor. At USC he also served on the Board of Councilors for the Shoah Foundation. He published a memoir “Willing to Be Lucky: Adventures in Life and Television” in 2017.
Friendly is survived by his immediate family, sister Lisa Friendly and brothers David Friendly, Richard Mark, Michael Mark, Jon Mark and Ruth Friendly along with several grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
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