Remembrances
TV Producer Aaron Spelling Dead at 83
by The Associated Press
Bob Galbraith
Aaron Spelling, in a 1993 file photo, was one of the most prolific TV producers in history. AP
Los Angeles - Aaron Spelling captivated generations of television viewers with shows like Charlie's Angels and Beverly Hills 90210 and left an indelible stamp on American pop culture, but he never won the critical acclaim he sought.
One of the most prolific TV producers in history, Spelling chafed at the lowbrow label critics assigned his many hit series. He called his shows "mind candy" while critics referred to them as "mindless candy."
Spelling died Friday at his Los Angeles mansion after suffering a stroke on June 18, according to publicist Kevin Sasaki. He was 83.
"The knocks by the critics bother you," the man behind Melrose Place and Dynasty told The Associated Press in a 1986 interview.
"But you have a choice of proving yourself to 300 critics or 30 million fans. ... I think you're also categorized by the critics. If you do something good they almost don't want to like it."
Spelling's other hit series included Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Burke's Law, The Mod Squad, Starsky and Hutch, T.J. Hooker, Matt Houston, Hart to Hart and Hotel. Most recently he produced 7th Heaven and Summerland.
He also produced more than 140 television movies. Among the most notable: Death Sentence (1974), The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976) and The Best Little Girl in the World (1981).
During the 1970s and 1980s, Spelling provided series and movies exclusively for ABC and is credited for the network's rise to major status. Jokesters referred to it as "The Aaron Broadcasting Company."
"Aaron's contributions in television are unequaled. To me, he was a dear friend and a truly genuine human being," Jaclyn Smith, the only original Charlie's Angels actress who stayed with the show for its entire run, said in a statement Friday.
Spelling had arrived in Hollywood virtually penniless in the early 1950s. By the 1980s, Forbes magazine estimated his wealth at $300 million. He gave his second wife, Candy, a 40-carat diamond ring.
The Spellings' most publicized extravagance was their 56,500-square-foot French chateau in Holmby Hills. The couple bought the former Bing Crosby estate for $10 million and leveled it to the ground, along with two other houses. Construction cost was estimated at $12 million.
Born on April 22, 1923, Spelling grew up in a small house in Dallas "on the wrong side of the tracks," he wrote in his 1996 autobiography. He was the fourth son of immigrant Jews, his father from Poland, mother from Russia.
After ABC canceled "Dynasty" in 1989 and his contract with the network ended, Spelling found himself without a show on the air for the first time since 1960.
"I was so depressed, I would have quit, but I like TV too much," Spelling wrote in his memoir. After a year's respite, he returned with Beverly Hills 90210, which helped launch the fledgling Fox Network. Melrose Place gave Fox another hit.
Spelling and his second wife, Candy, had two children, Tori, who became a star on the two Fox serials, and Randy, who appeared in the short-lived Malibu Shores.
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