| Aaron Spelling | |
Spelling in 1999 following the Beverly Hills, 90210 wrap-up party
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| Born | April 22, 1923 Dallas, Texas |
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| Died | June 23, 2006 (Age 83) Los Angeles, California |
| Occupation | actor, singer, dancer, television producer |
Aaron Spelling (April 22, 1923 – June 23, 2006) was an American film and television producer. As of 2007, Spelling holds the record for most prolific television producer, with 218 producer and executive producer credits.[1]
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Spelling was born in Dallas, Texas, to Pearl (née Wald) and David Spelling (originally Spurling), Jewish immigrants from Russia and Poland, respectively.[2] Aaron also has a brother named Daniel Spelling living in San Francisco, who appeared on Tori Spelling's television show Tori And Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood. At the age of eight, Spelling lost the use of his legs psychosomatically due to trauma caused by constant bullying from his schoolmates, and was confined to bed for a year.[3] During this time he read a huge number of books, which kindled his imagination.
Spelling attended Forest Avenue High School. He served in the U.S. Air Force and was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster. He then attended Southern Methodist University, graduating in 1949. He married actress Carolyn Jones in 1953, and they moved to California. They divorced in 1964. He had two children, Randy Spelling and Tori Spelling, who acted as "Donna" in his show Beverly Hills, 90210 with his second wife, Carole Gene (née Marer) (Candy Spelling), whom he married in 1968.
Spelling sold his first script to Jane Wyman Theater in 1954. He went on to write for Dick Powell, Playhouse 90, and Last Man, amongst others. Later, he also found work as an actor. In total he played screen parts in 22 programs (in several shows, a few episodes, yet none of his flagships) and perhaps the best known being Gunsmoke between 1956 and 1997. During the 1950s, Spelling joined Powell's Four Star Productions.
After Powell's death, Spelling formed Thomas-Spelling Productions with Danny Thomas. Their first success was with the television show The Mod Squad. In total he wrote for fourteen television productions between 1957 and 1974, including several series with multiple episodes to his credit. Spelling and Thomas produced two 1960s series for Walter Brennan: The Tycoon and The Guns of Will Sonnett, both on ABC. He also began a collaboration at that time with associate producer Shelley Hull, who, aside from Mod Squad, worked with Spelling on The Rookies and Charlie's Angels. Hull also worked with Spelling in 1976 on the successful ABC movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, starring a young John Travolta. Spelling directed only once, on "The Conchita Vasquez Story", a 1959 episode of Wagon Train.
Spelling divorced Jones in 1965 and, in 1968, married Carole Gene Marer, who took his name as Candy Spelling. He fathered Victoria Davey Spelling and Randall Gene Spelling, both of whom became actors as teenagers, as Tori and Randy Spelling. They appeared in several of their father's productions, most notably in Beverly Hills, 90210.
The pivotal moment for the maturation of Spelling was the Kent State shootings of May 4, 1970. Spelling knew two of the students who had been killed, and even claimed to see one student, Allison Krause, with exit wounds from the M1 Garand rifle. At this moment, Spelling claims he changed the idea of television comedy into a tragic concept.
In 1991, Spelling bought the home and six-acre lot of Bing Crosby's former Los Angeles house.[4] He demolished the property, and built a 123-room home for the cost of USD $47,000,000, named "The Manor", which has 56,500 square feet (5,250 m2) of floor space and is the largest single-family dwelling in Hollywood (34°4'23"N 118°25'41"W).[5]
In 1972, he created Spelling Television (then called Aaron Spelling Productions), and formed another co-production company with Leonard Goldberg. Spelling took his own company public in 1986 as Spelling Entertainment. Spelling also produced the NBC daytime soap opera Sunset Beach from 1997 to 1999, and in one of his few acting roles after the 1960s, played one of Bette's (Kathleen Noone) ex-husbands for one day in 1997.
He also appeared as himself on 27 programs between 1992 and 2005. After 2000, Spelling rarely gave interviews, though he remained active as CEO and continued to give notes on productions, day to day control of the Spelling Television company was handled by his longtime producing and business partner E. Duke Vincent and company president, Jonathan Levin.
In 2004, Spelling was portrayed by Dan Castellaneta in the NBC film Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Charlie's Angels.[6]
On April 4, 2007, it was announced that 7th Heaven's series finale on May 13, 2007 would be dedicated to Aaron Spelling.[7] Every episode from Season 11 displayed these words at the beginning of the closing credits: "In memory of Aaron Spelling".
Spelling worked in some capacity on almost 200 productions beginning with the Zane Grey Theatre in 1956. His most recognizable contributions to television include Charlie's Angels, Dynasty, Starsky and Hutch, Family, Hotel, The Rookies, Beverly Hills 90210 and its adult spin-off Melrose Place, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Vega$, Hart to Hart, The Colbys, T.J. Hooker, Nightingales, Kindred: The Embraced, 7th Heaven, Charmed, Burke's Law, Honey West, The Mod Squad, and S.W.A.T.. His company also co-produced the David Lynch series Twin Peaks (although Spelling himself was not directly involved in its production).
He also produced the HBO miniseries And the Band Played On, based on Randy Shilts's bestseller. The miniseries won an Emmy Award, Spelling's first.
In 2001, Spelling was diagnosed with oral cancer.[8]
On January 28, 2006, Spelling was sued by his former nurse, who sought unspecified damages for 10 claims, including sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, sexual battery, assault, wrongful termination and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
On June 18, 2006, Spelling suffered a severe stroke at his estate in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California. He died there on June 23, 2006, from complications of the stroke, at the age of 83.[9] A private funeral was held several days later, and Spelling was entombed in a mausoleum in Culver City's Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery.