This is True®
by Randy CassinghamRandy Cassingham’s Honorary Unsubscribe Recognizes the Unknown, the Forgotten and the Obscure People who Had an Impact on Our Lives
Stephen J. Cannell
As a youngster, Cannell struggled with a dyslexia, and turned to an unlikely career: after getting a journalism degree, he became a writer — and a prolific one at that. He started with a script for “It Takes a Thief” in 1968, and then sold a couple of stories to the classic Ironside TV series. Then, a script he wrote for another cop show, Adam-12, was so good that Jack Webb hired Cannell as a story editor. Cannell went on to write for more shows, including Columbo and Toma, and then he starting creating new shows. He created, or co-created, such iconic series as Baa Baa Black Sheep (aka Black Sheep Squadron), Baretta, The Rockford Files, The Greatest American Hero, Hardcastle and McCormick, Hunter, Riptide, The A-Team, 21 Jump Street, Cobra, The Commish, Renegade, Silk Stalkings, and more — nearly 40 creator credits in all. In 1986, he had six hour-long shows running in prime time. By his own count, he was the producer or executive producer of more than 1,500 episodes of TV shows, writing more than 450 of them himself. When not writing or creating TV shows, he wrote novels — 16 of them. He died at his home on September 30 from melanoma. He was 69.
From This is True for 3 October 2010
Now Available: Honorary Unsubscribe books
The early write-ups from This is True's popular Honorary Unsubscribe feature are now available for your Kindle (or Kindle software for your smartphone, tablet, or computer) as low-cost ebooks. See details on Volume 1 (covering 1998 through 2000) and Volume 2 (covering 2001 through 2003). The honorees truly are the people you wish you had known.
About the HUs
About This is TrueSubscribe Free
to This is True
Oldest: Digital sound pioneer Thomas G. Stockham Jr
Newest: Prolific dyslexic Stephen J. Cannell
Prev: Violinist Clair Cline
Next: The fractalized Benoit Mandelbrot
Copyright 1998-2012 ThisIsTrue.Inc, all rights reserved. May not be copied or archived without express, prior, written permission. "This is True" is a registered trademark of ThisIsTrue.Inc, Ridgway Colorado.