George Eckstein (May 3, 1928 – September 12, 2009) was an American writer and television producer whose career spanned three decades, from the early 1960s through the late 1980s. Eckstein was a producer of many popular television programs such as ''

The Invaders ''The Invaders'' is an American science-fiction television series created by Larry Cohen that aired on ABC for two seasons, from 1967 to 1968. Roy Thinnes stars as David Vincent, who after stumbling across evidence of an in-progress invas ...

'' and '' The Name of the Game'' (Robert Stack segment), in addition to penning the scripts of many others, including '' Gunsmoke'', and ''

Cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

''. He co-wrote '' The Fugitive'' final two part episode, "The Judgment" (1967). He was Executive Producer on the series '' Banacek''. From the late 1970s onward, the bulk of Eckstein’s producing work was on several made-for-TV movies and specials, with a year’s stint as executive producer of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

series ''

Love, Sidney ''Love, Sidney'' is an American sitcom television series which aired two seasons on NBC, from October 28, 1981, to June 6, 1983. It stars Tony Randall as Sidney Shorr (a single, closeted gay man), Swoosie Kurtz as Laurie Morgan (a single mother wi ...

'' in the midst.

Early life

Eckstein was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, the son of Ruth (née Wexler) and George Eckstein, a salesman.Filmreference.com
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Personal life

He was married to actress

Ann Morgan Guilbert Ann Morgan Guilbert (October 16, 1928 – June 14, 2016), sometimes credited as Ann Guilbert, was an American television and film actress and comedian who portrayed a number of roles from the 1950s on, most notably as Millie Helper in 61 episode ...

from 1953 until their divorce in 1966, and had two children with her, agent/acting instructor Nora Eckstein and actress

Hallie Todd Hallie Todd (born January 7, 1962) is an American actress. She played Penny Waters on ''Brothers,''Jo McGuire on ''Lizzie McGuire,'' and Rhoda Markowitz, Dennis Stanton's assistant, on ''Murder, She Wrote''. She also made guest-starring appearan ...

. He later married actress Selette Cole, and had one daughter, Jennifer.

Death

He died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

at his home in

Brentwood, Los Angeles Brentwood is a suburban neighborhood in the Westside region of Los Angeles. History General Modern development began after the establishment of the Pacific Branch of the National Home for Disabled Soldiers and Sailors in the 1880s. A sma ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eckstein, George 1928 births 2009 deaths Television producers from California American television writers American male television writers Deaths from lung cancer in California People from Brentwood, Los Angeles Screenwriters from California 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American male writers