TV Producer Aaron Spelling Dies

LOS ANGELES, June 26: Aaron Spelling, arguably the most
prolific producer in the history of American television, passed away last
Friday in his Los Angeles mansion, after suffering a stroke on June 18. He was
83 years old.

During his very active career, he produced a slew of prime
time hits. While perhaps best known for the TV series Charlie’s Angels, he also created Dynasty, Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place and more recently, 7th Heaven, Charmed
and Summerland.

Spelling started out as an actor, but later switched to
writing and producing. His friendship with actor Dick Powell jump-started his
career as a producer and Burke’s Law became Spelling’s first hit series.

He went on to produce The Mod Squad and dozens more hits, including Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Starsky and Hutch, T.J. Hooker, Matt Houston, Hart to Hart and Hotel, as well as 140 TV movies.

Because of the huge success of Charlie’s Angels, which propelled Farrah Fawcett’s career and
frequently featured her and her co-stars in skimpy costumes, Spelling was often
criticized for producing mindless television and “jiggle TV.”

Spelling, however, also produced some of the most talked
about and most critically acclaimed made-for-television movies: The Boy in
the Plastic Bubble, about a boy with a
serious immune deficiency; Day One,
about the building of the first atomic bomb And The Band Played On, about AIDS.

To read an in-depth interview Aaron Spelling gave to World
Screen in 2003, please click
here.