Brandon Stoddard (March 31, 1937 – December 22, 2014) was an American television executive. He was president of ABC Entertainment between 1985–89 and head of ABC Productions between 1989–1995. He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Early life

Brandon Stoddard was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut in on March 31, 1937. His parents were Johnson Stoddard, a lawyer, and Constance Stoddard. He grew up in

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

. He played guitar in a calypso band. He attended

Deerfield Academy Deerfield Academy is an elite coeducational preparatory school in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1797, it is one of the oldest secondary schools in the United States. It is a member of the Eight Schools Association, the Ten Schools Admis ...

and graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1958. In the summer of 1958, he was a member of a Yale thespian group that toured Europe for two months, which included a month of performances at army bases. He studied at

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

Career

Brandon Stoddard started his career in

ABC Studios ABC Signature is an American television production studio that is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a division of Walt Disney Television, which is part of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Company. ...

in 1970 as the director of daytime programming, he led the network's motion picture division and president of ABC Entertainment from 1985 to 1989. During his tenure as the head of ABC entertainment shows such as '' Roseanne'', ''

The Wonder Years ''The Wonder Years'' is an American coming-of-age comedy/drama television series created by Neal Marlens and Carol Black. It ran on ABC from January 31, 1988, until May 12, 1993. The series premiered immediately after ABC's coverage of Super ...

'' and ''

Thirtysomething ''Thirtysomething'' is an American drama television series created by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz for United Artists Television (under MGM/UA Television) and aired on ABC from September 29, 1987, to May 28, 1991."The 'don't trust any ...

'' were created. He was responsible for the creation of

TV movies A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

like ''Friendly Fire'' and ''

The Day After ''The Day After'' is an American television film that first aired on November 20, 1983 on the ABC television network. More than 100 million people, in nearly 39 million households, watched the film during its initial broadcast. With ...

''. He worked to develop the miniseries in American television. Miniseries included ''The Thorn Birds'' (1983), ''The Winds of War'' (1983), and ''Amerika''. His most successful show was the miniseries ''Roots'' based on Alex Haley's novel. From 1989 to 1995 he was the president of the first in-house production company in ABC producing shows like ''

My So-Called Life ''My So-Called Life'' is an American teen drama television series created by Winnie Holzman and produced by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz. It originally aired on ABC from August 25, 1994, to January 26, 1995. It is distributed by The B ...

.'' After leaving ABC he worked as an adjunct professor at

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

’s School for Cinema and Television, teaching graduate students for ten years.

Personal life

He was married twice. His first wife was Alexandra Stoddard, with whom he had two daughters: journalist A. B. Stoddard and Brooke Stoddard. His second wife was Mary Anne Dolan.

Death and legacy

In March 2014, he was inducted into the

Television Hall of Fame The Television Academy Hall of Fame honors individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to U.S. television. The hall of fame was founded by former Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) president John H. Mitchell (1921–1988). ...

. He died of

bladder cancer Bladder cancer is any of several types of cancer arising from the tissues of the urinary bladder. Symptoms include blood in the urine, pain with urination, and low back pain. It is caused when epithelial cells that line the bladder become ma ...

Bel-Air, California Bel Air (or Bel-Air) is a residential neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. Founded in 1923, it is the home of the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden and the American Jewish Universit ...

in 2014.

References

External links

* * 1937 births 2014 deaths American Broadcasting Company executives Presidents of American Broadcasting Company Entertainment Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from bladder cancer Businesspeople from Bridgeport, Connecticut People from Southport, Connecticut Deerfield Academy alumni Yale College alumni Columbia Law School alumni {{US-tv-bio-stub