Adminpeter at 21:05, 30 May 2022

2022-05-30T21:05:09Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:05, 30 May 2022
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	{{short description\|American television producer}}		{{short description\|American television producer}}
	{{Infobox person		{{Infobox person
	\| name = Howard Leeds		\| name = Howard Leeds
	\| image = howard_leeds.jpg		\| image = howard_leeds.jpg
	\| imagesize =		\| imagesize =
	\| caption =		\| caption =
	\| birth_name = Howard Michael Leeds		\| birth_name = Howard Michael Leeds
	\| birth_date = {{birth date\|1919\|06\|27}}		\| birth_date = {{birth date\|1919\|06\|27}}
	\| birth_place = [[Winnipeg]], [[Manitoba]]		\| birth_place = Winnipeg, Manitoba
	\| death_date = {{Death date and age\|2017\|2\|11\|1919\|06\|27\|mf=y}}		\| death_date = {{Death date and age\|2017\|2\|11\|1919\|06\|27\|mf=y}}
	\| death_place = [[Los Angeles]], [[California]]		\| death_place = Los Angeles, California
	\| resting_place =		\| resting_place =
	\| years_active = 1952–1989		\| years_active = 1952–1989

Adminpeter: Created page with "{{short description|American television producer}} {{Infobox person | name = Howard Leeds | image = howard_leeds.jpg | imagesize = | caption = | birth_name = Howard Michael Leeds | birth_date = {{birth date|1919|06|27}} | birth_place = Winnipeg, Manitoba | death_date = {{Death date and age|2017|2|11|1919|06|27|mf=y}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California | resting_place = | years_active = 1952–1989 | occupation = T..."

2022-05-30T21:03:58Z

Created page with "{{short description|American television producer}} {{Infobox person | name = Howard Leeds | image = howard_leeds.jpg | imagesize = | caption = | birth_name = Howard Michael Leeds | birth_date = {{birth date|1919|06|27}} | birth_place = Winnipeg, Manitoba | death_date = {{Death date and age|2017|2|11|1919|06|27|mf=y}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California | resting_place = | years_active = 1952–1989 | occupation = T..."

New page

{{short description|American television producer}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Howard Leeds
| image = howard_leeds.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_name = Howard Michael Leeds
| birth_date = {{birth date|1919|06|27}}
| birth_place = [[Winnipeg]], [[Manitoba]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2017|2|11|1919|06|27|mf=y}}
| death_place = [[Los Angeles]], [[California]]
| resting_place =
| years_active = 1952–1989
| occupation = Television producer, screenwriter, creator
| notable works = ''[[Diff'rent Strokes]]'' (producer/writer)<br>''[[The Facts of Life (TV series)|The Facts of Life]]'' (producer/co-creator)<br>''[[Silver Spoons]]'' (producer/co-creator)<br>''[[Small Wonder (TV series)|Small Wonder]]'' (executive producer/creator)
| spouse = Joan Hajny (?-2017, his death)
| children = John }}

'''Howard Michael Leeds''' (June 27, 1919 – February 11, 2017) was a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and series creator. Among Leeds' most notable work, he served as a producer and writer for the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] sitcom, ''[[The Brady Bunch]]'', and worked on several television series for [[Norman Lear]]'s [[Tandem Productions]]/[[Embassy Television]], including co-creating [[NBC]]'s ''[[The Facts of Life (TV series)|The Facts of Life]]'' and ''[[Silver Spoons]]''. Leeds also served as the creator and executive producer of the syndicated 1980s family sitcom, ''[[Small Wonder (TV series)|Small Wonder]]''.

==Life and career==
Leeds was born on June 27, 1919, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and as a youth, he and his family re-located to Los Angeles, California. Leeds graduated from Fairfax High School in 1938, and later enlisted in the United States Army during World War II, rising to the rank of sergeant before being honorably discharged in 1946.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/latimes/obituary.aspx?n=Howard-Michael-Leeds&pid=184285597 |title=Howard Leeds Obituary |website=Legacy.com|date=28 February 2017}}</ref> Upon returning to Los Angeles after his Army service, Leeds worked in a variety of jobs at MGM Studios before becoming a writer on several early television series. He worked as a writer on ''[[The Red Skelton Show|The Red Skelton Hour]]'' and ''[[George Gobel|The George Gobel Show]]'', and also wrote for other 1950s and '60s situation comedies such as ''[[The Ford Show|The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show]]'', ''[[Bachelor Father (U.S. TV series)|Bachelor Father]]'', ''[[My Three Sons]]'', ''[[Bewitched]]'', and ''[[The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (TV series)|The Ghost & Mrs. Muir]]'', the latter of which he also served as a producer.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0498586/|title=Howard Leeds}}</ref> In 1969, Leeds created his first television series, a short-lived [[CBS]] sitcom, ''[[The Queen & I (U.S. TV series)|The Queen & I]]''. After ''The Brady Bunch'' concluded production for good in 1974, Leeds joined Tandem Productions as a writer and producer for several of their series, including first working on the ''[[Sanford and Son]]'' spinoff, ''[[Grady (American TV series)|Grady]]'', and then became one of the lead producers
of the NBC sitcom ''[[Diff'rent Strokes]]'', when the series debuted in 1978.

Along with veteran writer/producer [[Ben Starr]], they both went on to create the aforementioned ''Facts of Life'' (with Ben Starr and Jerry Mayer) and ''Silver Spoons'' (with [[Martin Cohan]]). In 1985, Leeds created and executive produced ''Small Wonder'', a syndicated family sitcom that was produced by [[Metromedia|Metromedia Producers Corporation]] (later by [[20th Century Fox Television]]) about a robotics engineer ([[Dick Christie]]) and his family raising a robot as a female pre-adolescent ([[Tiffany Brissette]]), and was his last known credited work; in the mid-1960s, Leeds was the producer of a sitcom with a slightly similar premise, titled ''[[My Living Doll]]'', starring [[Bob Cummings]] and [[Julie Newmar]], in which the latter portrayed a lifelike adult android under the care of Cummings' character.

From 1976 to 1978, Leeds also worked as a production executive for [[Reg Grundy Productions]].

==Death==
Leeds died on February 11, 2017, in his Los Angeles home, after a long illness, according to his family. He is survived by his wife, Joan, son John, and two granddaughters.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/howard-leeds-dead-facts-life-brady-bunch-writer-producer-was-97-981968 |title=Howard Leeds, Writer and Producer on 'Brady Bunch,' 'Facts of Life' and 'Silver Spoons,' Dies at 97 |journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=1 March 2017}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|0498586}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leeds, Howard}}
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:2017 deaths]]
[[Category:American television writers]]
[[Category:American male television writers]]
[[Category:American entertainment industry businesspeople]]
[[Category:Jewish American military personnel]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Television producers from California]]
[[Category:Writers from Winnipeg]]
[[Category:Writers from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Canadian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Screenwriters from California]]
[[Category:United States Army soldiers]]
[[Category:21st-century American Jews]]

Howard Leeds - Revision history

Adminpeter at 21:05, 30 May 2022