Stan Margulies, producer, 80

["Deathwatch Central" <cdw@slick.org>]

Thursday March 1 3:08 AM ET

TV producer Stan Margulies dead at 80 

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Veteran producer Stan Margulies, whose credits
included such landmark TV mini-series as ``Roots'' and ``The Thorn
Birds,'' has died of cancer, friends said Wednesday. Margulies, who was
80, passed away Tuesday at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center near Beverly
Hills.

Following a stint as a newspaperman in Salt Lake City, the New York-born
Margulies got his start in the movie business as an RKO Pictures
publicist.

He later joined Kirk Douglas' Bryna Productions company and became a
production assistant on the 1960 epic ``Spartacus,'' starring Douglas and
directed by Stanley Kubrick. Margulies' first solo production effort was
the 1963 comedy ``40 Pounds of Trouble,'' starring Tony Curtis and Suzanne
Pleshette.

After several other films, including ``Willy Wonka & the Chocolate
Factory,'' he teamed with fellow producer David Wolper to produce the
groundbreaking 1977 ABC mini-series, ``Roots'' and its 1979 sequel,
``Roots: The Next Generations.''

``Roots,'' based on Alex Haley's book chronicling his African-American
ancestors' struggle for freedom, was the first TV drama to deal seriously
and expansively with slavery.

His producer credits also include the highly rated 1983 mini-series ``The
Thorn Birds,'' starring Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward.

Margulies continued working in television through the 1980s and '90s, and
his last effort was the 1999 A&E cable TV production ``Dash and Lilly,''
about the love affair of writers Dashiell Hammett and Lillian Hellman.

Margulies is survived by his wife, Ferne, her two children, and his two
children.

Reuters/Variety REUTERS 



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