David Gerber (July 25, 1923 – January 2, 2010) was an American television

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

. Amongst the numerous television films, series, and specials he executive produced is the series '' Police Story'', for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series.

Career

Gerber was president of the television division of three major studios:

20th Century Fox Television 20th Television, Inc. (formerly known as TCF Television Productions, Inc., 20th Century-Fox Television and 20th Century Fox Television) is the television studio arm of 20th Century Studios, owned by Disney Television Studios, a division of the Di ...

, from 1965 to 1972,

Columbia Pictures Television Columbia Pictures Television, Inc. (abbreviated as CPT) was launched on May 6, 1974, by Columbia Pictures as an American television production and distribution company. It is the second name of Columbia Pictures' television division Screen Gems ...

, from 1974 to 1982 and

MGM Television Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television, formerly known as MGM/UA Television, is the television studio arm of the American film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), specializing in broadcast syndication and the production and distribution of television sh ...

, from 1984 to 1992. He executive produced for television under his own production company, David Gerber Productions. His first project was the sitcom '' The Ghost & Mrs. Muir'' (1968–1970). Over the next few years, he executive produced TV movies, the British children's series '' Here Come the Double Deckers'' (1970), the sitcom '' Nanny and the Professor'' (1970–1971), and the Western drama '' Cade's County'' (1971–1972). In 1973, he started production of the popular and critically acclaimed series '' Police Story'', nominated for four consecutive years for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, winning in 1976. After 1992, he launched his own production company The Gerber Company. In 1993, he partnered with ITC Entertainment Group to launch a production company, the Gerber-ITC Entertainment Group. In 1995, he went to All-American Television as producer. He quit in 1998 to launch a production company affiliated with

Fox Television Studios The second incarnation of Touchstone Television, formerly known as Fox 21 Television Studios, was an American television production company and a subsidiary of the Disney Television Studios, a subsidiary of the Disney Media Networks business se ...

. In 2003, his contract was reupped. Other executive producer credits include '' Jessie'', '' Riker'', '' Eischied'', '' The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case'', '' Nakia'', '' Gibbsville'', ''

Hunter Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, ...

'', '' Walking Tall'', ''

Quark A quark () is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nucleus, atomic nuclei ...

'', '' Today's FBI'', '' Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'', '' Lady Blue'', '' The Price of Love'' and ''Jack & Mike''. Gerber was executive producer of the 2006 made-for-TV docudrama, '' Flight 93''.

Personal life

Gerber was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York. He grew up Jewish in a predominantly Italian and Irish neighborhood, early experiences which created an affinity for other cultures. He served in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

in World War II, and was held as a prisoner of war in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

for over a year after his

B-17 The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...

bomber was shot down. After the war, he graduated from the University of the Pacific. He married actress

Laraine Stephens Laraine Stephens (born 24 July 1941) is a retired American actress. Stephens was born in Oakland, California. She studied at both Los Angeles City College and the University of California, Los Angeles. A coloratura soprano, Stephens performed ...

in June 1970. Gerber died in Los Angeles from

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...

at the age of 86.

Awards and accolades

Gerber won one

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

from seven nominations, including four consecutive nominations for Outstanding Drama Series for the series '' Police Story'', winning in 1976. He won the

Christopher Award The Christopher Award (established 1949) is presented to the producers, directors, and writers of books, films and television specials that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit". It is given by The Christophers, a Christian organizatio ...

for achievement in Television and Cable in 2002, for the television film '' The Lost Battalion'' (2001). His final production, the 2006 television film ''

Flight 93 United Airlines Flight 93 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight that was hijacked by four al-Qaeda terrorists on the morning of September 11, 2001, as part of the September 11 attacks. The hijackers planned to crash the plane into a feder ...

'', earned him a nomination for the Award for Best Long-Form Television at the 18th Producers Guild of America Awards, in addition to his seventh Emmy nomination, for Outstanding Television Movie at the

58th Primetime Emmy Awards The 58th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, August 27, 2006, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California on NBC at 8:00 p.m. ET (00:00 UTC) with Conan O'Brien hosting the show. The ceremony attracted 16.2 million viewers, 2.5 ...

. Gerber has also been recognized for his body of work. At the 1996 Artios Awards, Gerber received the

Casting Society of America The Casting Society, formerly known as the Casting Society of America (CSA), is a professional association of about 1,200 casting directors and associate casting directors for film, television, theatre, and commercials in Canada, Europe, Austral ...

's Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2006, he was honored with a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

References

External links

* 1923 births 2010 deaths 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews American television producers University of the Pacific (United States) alumni Place of birth missing 20th Century Studios people Columbia Pictures people Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executives {{US-tv-producer-stub