Mary-Ellis Bunim (July 9, 1946 – January 29, 2004) was an American

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon acce ...

and co-creator of

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's '' The Real World'' and ''

Road Rules ''Road Rules'' is an MTV reality show that was a sister show of the network's flagship reality show, '' The Real World''. The series ran for 14 seasons, from July 19, 1995 to May 9, 2007. The series followed five to six strangers between the a ...

''.

Biography

A native of Massachusetts, Bunim began her career in daytime dramas. She oversaw more than 2,500 hours of programming as executive producer of ''

Search for Tomorrow ''Search for Tomorrow'' is an American television soap opera. It began its run on CBS on September 3, 1951, and concluded on NBC, 35 years later, on December 26, 1986. Set in the fictional town of Henderson in an unspecified state, the show f ...

'' (1974–1981), ''

As the World Turns ''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other so ...

'' (1981–1984), '' Santa Barbara'' (1984–1987) and '' Loving'' (1989–1990). She subsequently developed numerous shows in her job as VP of tape programs for New World Entertainment. Bunim founded Bunim-Murray with business partner Jonathan Murray. Agent Mark Itkin of the William Morris Agency put the two together to develop a scripted soap opera for MTV. When that was too expensive, they decided to try an unscripted soap and ''The Real World'' was born. "We knew within 20 minutes of shooting that we had a show," Bunim said. Her company, Bunim/Murray Productions, spearheaded the

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

genre. Among the numerous other reality programs and reality game show programs that Bunim co-created over the years, include: ''Road Rules''; ''Love Cruise''; ''Making the Band''; '' The Challenge'' (formerly known as ''Real World/Road Rules Challenge'' and spun off from ''The Real World'' and ''Road Rules''); the reality feature film, ''

The Real Cancun ''The Real Cancun'' is a 2003 American reality film directed by Rick de Oliveira and written by Brian Caldirola. Inspired by the reality television genre, this film followed the lives of sixteen Americans from March 13 to 23, 2003 as they celeb ...

''; the real-life daily syndication, '' Starting Over''; as well as Fox's '' The Simple Life''.

Death

Bunim died in Los Angeles at 57, after a lengthy battle with

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

. She is interred at

Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Hollywood Hills is one of the six Forest Lawn cemeteries in Southern California, United States. It is located at 6300 Forest Lawn Drive in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. History The first Fo ...

. Bunim and Murray were inducted into the

Television Academy 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). In ...

in 2012.

References

External links

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Mary-Ellis Bunim
At Find A Grave {{DEFAULTSORT:Bunim, Mary-Ellis 1946 births 2004 deaths Television producers from Massachusetts American women television producers American soap opera producers Deaths from breast cancer in California American reality television producers Actresses from Massachusetts People from Northampton, Massachusetts Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) 20th-century American women 21st-century American women