Philip Capice (June 24, 1931 – December 30, 2009) was an American

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 ...

, most notable as the

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

of the

dramedy Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

Eight Is Enough ''Eight Is Enough'' is an American television comedy-drama series that ran on ABC from March 15, 1977, until May 23, 1981. The show was modeled on the life of syndicated newspaper columnist Tom Braden, a real-life parent with eight children, who ...

'' and the first nine seasons of the

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

''.

Biography

Early life and career

Capice graduated from

Bernards High School Bernards High School is a comprehensive four-year regional public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. The school is part of the Somerset Hills Regional School District, ...

in 1948 and was inducted into the school's hall of fame in 2015. A graduate of

Dickinson College , mottoeng = Freedom is made safe through character and learning , established = , type = Private liberal arts college , endowment = $645.5 million (2022) , president = J ...

and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, Capice began his broadcasting career at

Benton & Bowles Benton & Bowles (B&B) was a New York-based advertising agency founded by William Benton and Chester Bowles in 1929. One of the oldest agencies in the United States, and frequently one of the 10 largest, it merged with D'Arcy-MacManus Masius in ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he worked from 1954 to 1969. During that time he was an associate producer of ''

The Edge of Night ''The Edge of Night'' is an American television mystery crime drama series and soap opera, created by Irving Vendig and produced by Procter & Gamble Productions. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that networ ...

''. Then, from 1969 to 1974 he was director of special programs at

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

, before joining

Lorimar Productions Lorimar Productions, Inc., later known as Lorimar Television and Lorimar Distribution, was an American production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros., active from 1969 until 1993, when it was folded into Warner Bros. Televisio ...

in 1974.Philip Capice Obituary
''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to ''The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of wh ...

'', January 4, 2010

At Lorimar

After four years as vice president of creative affairs at Lorimar, Capice was made president of the company in 1978. At Lorimar, he produced several

telefilm 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 ...

s and

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

, including ''

Sybil Sibyls were oracular women believed to possess prophetic powers in ancient Greece. Sybil or Sibyl may also refer to: Films * ''Sybil'' (1921 film) * ''Sybil'' (1976 film), a film starring Sally Field * ''Sybil'' (2007 film), a remake of the 19 ...

'', for which Capice,

Peter Dunne Peter Francis Dunne (born 17 March 1954) is a retired New Zealand politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ōhāriu. He held the seat and its predecessors from 1984 to 2017—representing the Labour Party in Parliament from 1984 ...

and

Jacqueline Babbin Jacqueline Babbin (July 26, 1926 – October 6, 2001) was an American television/theatre writer, producer, and executive. Early life Jacqueline Babbin was born on July 26, 1926 in New York City, in the borough of Manhattan. She entered high school ...

received an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

in 1977.Primetime Emmy Award Database: Philip Capice
/ref> Additionally, he worked with television series, most notably overseeing the creation of ''

'' (1977) and ''

'' (1978), for both of which he was named executive producer as they went into production. ''Dallas'' grew to be TV's top rated series in the early 1980s, and Capice was nominated for Emmys in 1980 and 1981 (losing to ''

Lou Grant Lou Grant is a fictional character played by Ed Asner in two television series produced by MTM Enterprises for CBS. The first was ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), a half-hour light-hearted situation comedy in which the character ...

'' and ''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station loca ...

'', respectively). Episodes of ''Dallas'' usually ended on a freeze-frame, with the executive producer credit superimposed over the final image before the end credits ran. Since some of the season finales of ''Dallas'' were among the most watched and highly anticipated TV shows in the world, Capice's name became very widely recognized. However, creative conflicts between him and

Larry Hagman Larry Martin Hagman (September 21, 1931 – November 23, 2012) was an American film and television actor, director, and producer, best known for playing ruthless oil baron J. R. Ewing in the 1978–1991 primetime television soap opera, ''Dal ...

and

Leonard Katzman Leonard Katzman (September 2, 1927 – September 5, 1996) was an American film and television producer, writer and director. He was most notable for being the showrunner of the CBS oil soap opera ''Dallas''. Early life and career Leonard Katzma ...

eventually led to Capice leaving ''Dallas'' in 1986.Haithman, Diane. "The Baron of 'Dallas' : Producer Reminisces on 10th Anniversary"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', April 1, 1988

Bonderoff, Jason: The Real Dallas Feud
Soap Opera Babylon, Perigee Trade, 1987

Death

Capice died peacefully in his home in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

on December 30, 2009.

Awards

Among Capice's awards are: *

in 1977 *

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

in 1977 and 1978 *

Humanitas Prize The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing, and is given to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful way. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of Paulist P ...

in 1978 *

People's Choice Awards The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the general public and fans. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls until ...

in 1980 and 1982

Filmography

All credits as executive producer.

TV series

* '' The Blue Knight'' (1975–1976) * ''

Hunter Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

'' (1977) * ''

'' (1977–1981) * ''

'', Seasons 1 to 9 (1978–1986) * '' Flatbush'' (1979) * ''

Two Marriages ''Two Marriages'' is an American dramatic television series that aired on ABC from August 23, 1983, until April 26, 1984. Premise The Armstrongs and Daleys, two married couples with very different marriages but a close friendship live next-door ...

(1983)

Telefilms and miniseries

* ''

Bad Ronald ''Bad Ronald'' is a 1974 American made-for-television horror thriller film directed by Buzz Kulik and starring Scott Jacoby, Pippa Scott, John Larch, Dabney Coleman and Kim Hunter. It is based on the novel of the same title by Jack Vance. P ...

'' (1974) * ''

The Stranger Within ''The Stranger Within'' is a 1974 American Television film, made-for-television science fiction horror film that premiered as the ''ABC Movie of the Week'' on October 1, 1974. Written by Richard Matheson, and based on his 1953 novelette ''Trespas ...

'' (1974) * ''

Eric The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

'' (1975) * ''

The Runaways The Runaways were an all-female American rock band who recorded and performed from 1975 to 1979. The band released four studio albums and one live album during its run. Among their best-known songs are "Cherry Bomb", " Hollywood", "Queens of N ...

'' (1975) * ''

'' (1976) * '' Helter Skelter'' (1976) * ''

Widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word ...

'' (1976) * '' The Prince of Central Park'' (1977) * '' Green Eyes'' (1977) * '' Buco'' (1977) * ''

Long Journey Back ''Long Journey Back'' is a 1978 made-for-TV coming of age drama film based on the Gilchrest Road, New York crossing accident in which a Nyack High School bus was struck and sliced down the middle by a train, killing 5 people and injuring more t ...

'' (1978) * '' A Question of Guilt'' (1978) * ''

A Man Called Intrepid A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

'' (1979) * ''

Studs Lonigan ''Studs Lonigan'' is a novel trilogy by American author James T. Farrell: ''Young Lonigan'' (1932), ''The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan'' (1934), and ''Judgment Day'' (1935). In 1998, the Modern Library ranked the Studs Lonigan trilogy 29th on i ...

'' (1979) * '' Some Kind of Miracle'' (1979) * '' A Matter of Life and Death'' (1981) * ''

Private Sessions ''Private Sessions'' is a 2007 television series produced by the A&E Network featuring top entertainers interviewed by host Lynn Hoffman. Most guests are musicians that perform several of their songs during the hour-long episode, but actors also h ...

'' (1985)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Capice, Philip 1931 births 2009 deaths Television producers from California Bernards High School alumni People from Bernardsville, New Jersey People from Los Angeles Television producers from New Jersey