Burton Roy Sugarman (born January 4, 1939) is an American film and

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on 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 net ...

best known for creating and producing the iconic 1970s/early '80s variety series '' The Midnight Special'', which served as a showcase for popular musical groups of the time. Sugarman also produced the 1970s game shows ''

Celebrity Sweepstakes ''Celebrity Sweepstakes'' is an American television game show that aired on NBC's daytime schedule from April 1, 1974 to October 1, 1976. The show also had two separate weekly syndicated runs from September 9, 1974 to September 1975 and again fro ...

'', ''

Whew! ''Whew!'' is an American television game show that aired on CBS from April 23, 1979, until May 30, 1980. It was hosted by Tom Kennedy and announced by Rod Roddy. Gameplay features contestants correcting "bloopers", factual statements in which one ...

'' and ''

The Wizard of Odds ''The Wizard of Odds'' is an American television game show hosted by Alex Trebek that aired on NBC from July 16, 1973, to June 28, 1974, in which people from the studio audience vied in a number of rounds, primarily games revolving around statistic ...

'', and the short-lived series ''

The Richard Pryor Show ''The Richard Pryor Show'' is an American comedy variety show starring and created by Richard Pryor. It premiered on NBC on Tuesday, September 13, 1977, at 8 p.m. opposite ABC's '' Laverne & Shirley'' and ''Happy Days''. The show was produced ...

''. During 1979, Sugarman also owned shares in Old Tucson Corporation, which owned the

Old Tucson Old Tucson (formerly Old Tucson Studios) is an American movie studio and theme park just west of Tucson, Arizona, adjacent to the Tucson Mountains and close to the western portion of Saguaro National Park. Built in 1939 for the movie ''Arizona'' ...

and Old Vegas amusement parks in Arizona and Nevada. In the 1980s, he produced the motion pictures ''

Kiss Me Goodbye Kiss Me Goodbye may refer to: * "Kiss Me Goodbye" (Petula Clark song), a 1968 song by Petula Clark * "Kiss Me Goodbye" (Buck Tick song), a 1990 song by Buck-Tick * "Kiss Me Good-Bye", a 2006 song by Angela Aki, used as the ending theme song for '' ...

'', '' Extremities'' and '' Children of a Lesser God''. He was the executive producer of the film ''

Crimes of the Heart ''Crimes of the Heart'' is a play by American playwright Beth Henley. It is set in Hazlehurst, Mississippi in the mid-20th century. The play won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play. In 1986, the p ...

'' in 1986 and television series ''

The Newlywed Game ''The Newlywed Game'' is an American television game show that puts newly married couples against each other in a series of revealing question rounds to determine how well the spouses know or do not know each other. The program, originally create ...

'' 1988. He was also part owner of

Barris Industries Barris Industries, Inc. was an American game show production company that was founded by Chuck Barris. History Barris founded his company on June 14, 1965 as Chuck Barris Productions. The company's first series was an unsold pilot called '' Peop ...

(later known as the

Guber Guber may refer to: * Jasminka Guber (born 1985), Bosnian middle-distance runner * Lee Guber (1920–1988), American theater impresario *Peter Guber Howard Peter Guber (born March 1, 1942) is an American business executive, entrepreneur, e ...

Peters Peters may refer to: People * Peters (surname) * Peters Band, a First Nations band in British Columbia, Canada Places United States * Peters, California, a census-designated place * Peters, Florida, a town * Peters Township, Kingman County, Kan ...

Entertainment Company) before it was sold to

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

in 1989. During the late 1980s, Burt Sugarman was a member of The Giant Group, which they had bought investments in media firms, like broadcasting firm

Reeves Entertainment Group Alan Landsburg Productions (ALP) was an independent television production company founded by Alan Landsburg in 1971. The company had produced '' In Search of...'' and ''That's Incredible!'', two early examples of reality television decades befor ...

, and television broadcaster/cable system operator/newspaper owner

Media General Media General was an American media company based in Richmond, Virginia. The company's origins can be traced back to 1887 when Richmond attorney Joseph Bryan acquired ''The Richmond Daily Times'', which later became ''The Richmond Times-Dispatch' ...

in 1987.

Personal life

Sugarman married television personality and talk show host

Mary Hart Mary Hart (born Mary Johanna Harum; November 8, 1950) is an American television personality and actress. She was the long-running host (1982–2011) of the syndicated gossip and entertainment round-up television program ''Entertainment Tonight'' ...

in 1989; they have one son.Los Angeles Times
/ref> He had previously been married to Pauline Schur and to the late actress Carol Wayne, and was engaged to actress

Ann-Margret Ann-Margret Olsson (born April 28, 1941) is a Swedish–American actress, singer, and dancer. As an actress and singer, she is credited as Ann-Margret. She is known for her roles in ''Pocketful of Miracles'' (1961), ''State Fair'' (1962), ''B ...

in 1962.

Producer (as EP)

Himself

References

External links

* 1939 births Living people 20th-century American Jews Businesspeople from Los Angeles Television producers from California 21st-century American Jews {{US-tv-producer-stub