Mary-Ellis Bunim

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Mary-Ellis Bunim
Born	(1946-07-09)July 9, 1946 Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	January 29, 2004(2004-01-29) (aged 57) Burbank, California, U.S.

Mary-Ellis Bunim (July 9, 1946 – January 29, 2004) was an American television producer and co-creator of MTV's The Real World and Road Rules.

Biography

A native of Massachusetts, Bunim began her career in daytime dramas. She oversaw more than 2,500 hours of programming as executive producer of Search for Tomorrow (1974–1981), As the World Turns (1981–1984), Santa Barbara (1984–1987) and Loving (1989–1990). She subsequently developed numerous shows in her job as VP of tape programs for New World Entertainment.

Bunim founded Bunim-Murray with business partner Jonathan Murray. Agent Mark Itkin of the William Morris Agency put the two together to develop a scripted soap opera for MTV. When that was too expensive, they decided to try an unscripted soap and the Real World was born. "We knew within 20 minutes of shooting that we had a show," Bunim said.

Her company, Bunim/Murray Productions, spearheaded the reality show genre. Among the numerous other reality programs and reality game show programs that Bunim co-created over the years, include: Road Rules; Love Cruise; Making the Band; The Challenge (formerly known as Real World/Road Rules Challenge and spun off from The Real World and Road Rules); the reality feature film, The Real Cancun; the real-life daily syndication, Starting Over; as well as Fox's smash hit, The Simple Life; etc.

She died in Los Angeles at 57, after a lengthy battle with breast cancer. She is survived by her daughter, Juliana Bunim.^[1]

Bunim and Murray were inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2012.

References

↑ "'Real World' co-creator dies". CNN.com. 2004-01-31. Retrieved 2008-04-26.

External links

Preceded by Fred Bartholomew	Executive producer of As the World Turns Fall 1981 – October 1984	Succeeded by Robert Calhoun
Preceded by Bridget and Jerome Dobson Jeffrey Hayden	Executive producer of Santa Barbara (with Bridget and Jerome Dobson) October 1984 – November 1987	Succeeded by Jill Farren Phelps
Preceded by Joseph Hardy	Executive producer of Loving December 3, 1989 – April 1990	Succeeded by Jacqueline Babbin

The Real World, Road Rules, and The Challenge

The Real World seasons

New York Los Angeles San Francisco London Miami Boston Seattle Hawaii New Orleans Back to New York Chicago Las Vegas Paris San Diego Philadelphia Austin Key West Denver Sydney Hollywood Brooklyn Cancun D.C. New Orleans (2010) Las Vegas (2011) San Diego (2011) St. Thomas Portland Ex-Plosion

Road Rules seasons

USA – The First Adventure USA – The Second Adventure Europe Islands Northern Trail Down Under Latin America Semester at Sea Maximum Velocity Tour The Quest Campus Crawl South Pacific X-Treme Viewers' Revenge

The Challenge seasons

Related

Bunim/Murray Productions Mary-Ellis Bunim Jonathan Murray The Real World Movie: The Lost Season T. J. Lavin Reunited: The Real World Las Vegas Pedro Real World Presents: Return to Duty Spring Break Challenge

v t e Television Hall of Fame Class of 2012

Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray Michael Eisner Sherman Hemsley Bill Klages Mario Kreutzberger Chuck Lorre Vivian Vance and William Frawley

Authority control	VIAF: 14143372

Persondata
Name	Bunim, Mary-Ellis
Alternative names
Short description	Television producer
Date of birth	July 9, 1946
Place of birth	Northampton, Massachusetts, United States
Date of death	January 29, 2004
Place of death	Burbank, California, United States

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