[Deathwatch] Edgar Scherick, Film Producer, 78

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Veteran TV, Film Producer Edgar Scherick Dead at 78
Tue Dec 3, 9:38 PM ET

By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Veteran producer Edgar J. Scherick, who created
"Wide World of Sports" for ABC, helped produce Woody Allen (news)'s
first film and brought dozens of TV movies and mini-series to the small
screen, died on Tuesday at age 78, associates said.

Scherick, whose last completed work was the Emmy-nominated HBO
historical drama "Path to War," died of leukemia in his sleep at his
Los Angeles home, said Steven Abronson, head of development for
Scherick's production company.

He said Scherick, who suffered a stroke six years ago, had been
diagnosed with leukemia during the past six months.

A native New Yorker, Scherick also served as programming chief for ABC
television from 1963 to 1966, bringing such shows as "Batman," "The
Hollywood Palace," "Bewitched" and "Peyton Place" to the network and
helping ABC achieve the top spot in the Nielsen ratings survey for the
first time ever.

He also conceived and developed ABC's landmark sports spectacular "Wide
World of Sports." The long-running show, which debuted in 1961 with Jim
McKay as host, helped revolutionize the broadcasting of athletic events
by employing new camera angles, sound techniques and other innovations
that brought the viewer closer to the action.

After leaving ABC, Scherick formed his own movie company and went on to
produce or executive produce such films as Woody Allen's first feature,
"Take the Money and Run," as well as the Oscar-nominated mystery
"Sleuth" with Laurence Olivier (news) and Michael Caine (news), and
Neil Simon's "The Heartbreak Kid." Other works included "The Taking of
the Pelham 1-2-3," "The Stepford Wives" and "I Never Promised You a
Rose Garden."

Later credits include the 1982 drama "Shoot the Moon," starring Diane
Keaton (news) and Albert Finney (news), the 1984 romance "Reckless,"
starring Aidan Quinn (news) and Daryl Hannah (news), and the 1991
period drama "Rambling Rose," with Laura Dern (news) and Robert Duvall
(news).

But Scherick was best known as one of the most prolific producers of
mini-series and TV movies in Hollywood.

His most recent completed work was as executive producer with director
John Frankenheimer on "Path to War," a docudrama chronicling the
escalation of U.S. military involvement in Vietnam under President
Lyndon Johnson. The film garnered eight Emmy nominations.

Scherick also shared Emmy nominations for the 1990 mini-series "The
Kennedys of Massachusetts" and the 1977 TV dramatization "Raid on
Entebbe," about the daring Israeli hostage rescue in Uganda.

Scherick broke into television in the early days of the medium as a
radio and TV executive for a New York advertising agency, putting
together the "Baseball Game of the Week with Dizzy Dean," the first
regular weekly telecast of a major league game on a national basis.

He later joined CBS as a sports specialist, shaping the regional
networks that formed the basis for CBS' entrance into professional
football telecasting. In 1957, he formed his own company, Sports
Programs Inc., which produced "Wide World of Sports" and a host of
other athletic-based shows during an era in which sports was
experiencing tremendous growth on TV.

Sports Programs Inc. was eventually merged into ABC to become the
network's sports production arm. Scherick became vice president in
charge of ABC's network sales in 1961. Two years later he was named
vice president for programming.