Leonard Goldberg

Leonard Goldberg
Leonard Goldberg
Born	January 24, 1934; New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	December 4, 2019 (aged 85); Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Film producer; Television producer
Spouse(s)	Wendy J. Howard (m. 1972⁠–⁠2019)

Leonard J. Goldberg (January 24, 1934 – December 4, 2019) was an American film and television producer.[1] He had his own production company, Panda Productions (formerly Mandy Films).[2] He served as head of programming for ABC, and was president of 20th Century Fox. Goldberg was also the executive producer of the CBS series Blue Bloods.

Early life and education

Goldberg was born on January 24, 1934 to a Jewish family, the son of Jean (née Smith) and William Goldberg.[3] He was a graduate of New Utrecht High School in Brooklyn and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania where he received a B.S. in economics in 1955.[3]

Career

As a producer, he was responsible for producing several television films, including the Peabody Award–⁠winning Brian's Song (1971) and The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976); the latter helping to launch John Travolta's movie career. He also produced a string of hit television series while in partnership with Aaron Spelling; the best-known being Charlie's Angels, Hart to Hart, Starsky & Hutch, Fantasy Island and Family. He produced the Oscar-nominated movie WarGames (1983) as well as the comedy The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training (1977).[4]

He also produced the Emmy Award–⁠winning television film Something About Amelia, which aired on ABC in 1984. It was one of the highest-rated television films of the year, watched by around 60–⁠70 million people.[5]

Goldberg served as president of 20th Century Fox, during which time the studio produced such films as Broadcast News, Big, Die Hard, Wall Street and Working Girl. Under his own banner, Leonard Goldberg produced the successful motion picture features WarGames, Sleeping with the Enemy, Double Jeopardy and the Charlie's Angels films series. He also produced Unknown, starring Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones and Frank Langella, released in theaters in February 2011.

He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6901 Hollywood Boulevard and was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in 2007. He was a member of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple.[6]

Goldberg served on the CBS Board of Directors from 2007 to 2018.

Personal life and death

In 1972, he married Wendy Howard.[3] He had one daughter, Amanda Erin Goldberg and two stepsons, Richard Mirisch[3] and John A. Mirisch.

Goldberg died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on December 4, 2019, as a result of injuries sustained in a fall. He was 85 years old.[7][8]

Filmography

He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

Film

Year	Film	Credit	Notes
1974	California Split	Executive producer
1976	Baby Blue Marine
1977	The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training
1981	All Night Long
1983	WarGames	Executive producer
1986	SpaceCamp	Executive producer
1991	Sleeping with the Enemy
1992	The Distinguished Gentleman
1993	Aspen Extreme
1999	Double Jeopardy
2000	Charlie's Angels
2003	Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
2011	Unknown
2019	Charlie's Angels	Executive producer	Final film as a producer

As an actor

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2007	The Underdog's Tale	Hank	Direct-to-video

Television

Year	Title	Credit	Notes
1972	The Daughters of Joshua Cabe	Executive producer	Television film
	No Place to Run	Executive producer	Television film
	Say Goodbye, Maggie Cole		Television film
	The Bounty Man		Television film
	Home for the Holidays	Executive producer	Television film
	Every Man Needs One	Executive producer	Television film
1973	A Cold Night's Death	Executive producer	Television film
	Snatched	Executive producer	Television film
	The Great American Beauty Contest	Executive producer	Television film
	The Letters	Executive producer	Television film
	The Bait	Executive producer	Television film
	Satan's School for Girls		Television film
	Hijack		Television film
	Letters from Three Lovers		Television film
	The Affair	Executive producer	Television film
1974	The Death Squad		Television film
	Firehouse	Executive producer
	Chopper One	Executive producer
	The Girl Who Came Gift-Wrapped		Television film
	Cry Panic		Television film
	Savages		Television film
	Death Sentence		Television film
	Hit Lady		Television film
	Death Cruise		Television film
	Only with Married Men	Executive producer	Television film
	The Fireman's Ball	Executive producer	Television film
1975	The Daughters of Joshua Cabe Return	Executive producer	Television film
	The Fireman's Ball	Executive producer	Television pilot
	Murder on Flight 502	Executive producer	Television film
	The Legend of Valentino		Television film
1976	One of My Wives Is Missing	Executive producer	Television film
	The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe	Executive producer	Television film
	Death at Love House	Executive producer	Television film
	33 Hours in the Life of God		Television film
	The Sad and Lonely Sundays	Executive producer	Television film
	The Boy in the Plastic Bubble	Executive producer	Television film
1972−76	The Rookies	Executive producer
1975−76	S.W.A.T.	Executive producer
1977	Little Ladies of the Night	Executive producer	Television film
1977	Delta County, U.S.A.	Executive producer	Television film
1979	Beach Patrol	Executive producer	Television film
1975−79	Starsky & Hutch	Executive producer
1980	When the Whistle Blows	Executive producer
1980	Blue Jeans	Executive producer	Television film
1976−80	Family	Executive producer
1981	This House Possessed	Executive producer	Television film
1976−81	Charlie's Angels	Executive producer
1982	Fantasies	Executive producer	Television film
1982	Paper Dolls	Executive producer	Television film
1983	Deadly Lessons	Executive producer	Television film
1982−83	Gavilan	Executive producer
1984	Something About Amelia	Executive producer	Television film
	Sins of the Past	Executive producer	Television film
	Paper Dolls	Executive producer
1977−84	Fantasy Island	Executive producer
1979−84	Hart to Hart	Executive producer
1985	Royal Match	Executive producer	Television film
1985	Beverly Hills Cowgirl Blues		Television film
1986	Alex: The Life of a Child	Executive producer	Television film
1982−86	T. J. Hooker	Executive producer
1987	Home	Executive producer	Television film
1988	The Cavanaughs	Executive producer
1993	Class of '96	Executive producer
1999	Love Letters	Executive producer	Television film
2000	Runaway Virus	Executive producer	Television film
2002	Critical Assembly	Executive producer	Television film
2009	Limelight	Executive producer	Television film
2011	Charlie's Angels	Executive producer
2018	Untitled Paul Attanasio Project	Executive producer	Television pilot
2010−20	Blue Bloods	Executive producer

Thanks

Year	Title	Notes
2019	Blue Bloods	In loving memory of our founder and mentor

References

External links

Business positions
Preceded by Edgar J. Scherick	Vice President, Programs ABC 1966–1969	Succeeded by Martin Starger

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[NYT-1] "Leonard Goldberg". The New York Times.

[2] "Leonard Goldberg". CBS Corporation.

[Ency-3] "Goldberg, Leonard 1934-". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved October 7, 2018.

[4] Canby, Vincent (August 20, 1977). "The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training (1977) 'Bad News Bears' Make Comeback in an Effort to Go on to Japan". The New York Times.

[upi1-5] (18 January 1984). "'Something About Amelia,' the made-for-TV movie about incest, carried...", UPI

[Wilshire-6] Hollywood Reporter: "Hollywood's Hottest $150 Million Project Is an 83-Year-Old Synagogue—Studio heads, agency chieftains and top producers have come together, 'Avengers'-style, to save their iconic but decaying Wilshire Boulevard Temple—an A-list house of worship far from the Westside" by Gary Baum, May 30, 2012

[7] Leonard Goldberg, Former 20th Century Fox President and ABC Head of Programming, Dies at 85

[8] Leonard Goldberg, Producer of 'Charlie's Angels' and 'Blue Bloods,' Dies at 85