Donald L. Taffner

Donald L. Taffner (November 29, 1930 - September 6, 2011) was an American television producer.[1] Taffner and his wife-business partner Eleanor Bolta were responsible for bringing to the U.S. such television shows as Three's Company, Too Close for Comfort and The Benny Hill Show.[2]

Donald L. Taffner
Born
Donald L. Taffner

(1930-11-29)November 29, 1930
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DiedSeptember 6, 2011(2011-09-06) (aged 80)
Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Alma materSt. John’s University
OccupationProducer
Spouse(s)Eleanor Bolta
ChildrenDonald Taffner Jr.
Karen Butler

Biography

Donald Taffner was born on November 29, 1930 in New York. He began working as a mail delivery agent for the William Morris Agency in 1952. Between 1955 and 1959, he served as an agent. He later worked at Paramount's New York office until, in 1963, he left the company to form DLT Entertainment, a production company that began offering American series to international broadcasters.

In 1975 Taffner acquired from Thames Television the rights to the adaptation of the British series Man About the House (1973-1976), which was produced in the U.S as the title of Three's Company. Starring John Ritter, Suzanne Somers and Joyce DeWitt, the sitcom became a hit, produced between 1976 and 1984. The series spawned two spin-offs: The Ropers and Three's a Crowd. This second was actually the continuation of the original production, which at the time had already been canceled.

Trying to rescue the success of Three's Company, Taffner bought the adaptation rights to the British series Keep It in the Family (1980-1983) and produced Too Close for Comfort.

After a few failed attempts, such as Check It Out!, a series starring Don Adams, Taffner co-produced the British sitcom As Time Goes By in partnership with Theatre of Comedy Entertainment, and starring Judi Dench. The television series had 9 seasons, produced between 1992 and 2002, returning with specials in 2005.

References
  1. "DONALD L. TAFFNER, Obituary". New York Times. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  2. "TV producer Don Taffner dies". Variety. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.