# Legendary TV producer Stephen J. Cannell dead at 69



## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

Stephen J. Cannell, the prolific screenwriter and producer of numerous successful TV shows from the 70s through the 90s, passed away in his home in Pasadena, CA on Sept. 30 after a brave fight with cancer. 

Cannell is credited as the creator of numerous TV shows, including _21 Jump Street, Hunter,The A Team, and The Rockford Files _(my all-time favorite). 

Cannell was working for his father’s interior design company when, at the age of 27, he sold his first TV script, and it was much to his father’s consternation that he ultimately embarked on a Hollywood career. Cannell tapped this experience to great effect in _The Rockford Files_. The father/son banter between Jim Rockford (James Garner) and his father (Noah Beery) over the Jim’s peculiar career choice was the source of many humorous exchanges during the show’s early years.

LA Times announcement
Friends, fans and colleagues remember the producer
Recent interview

Regards,
Wayne


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## ironglen (Mar 4, 2009)

Wow, hadn't seen his name is some time. I think that I remember as a teen seeing him pull a sheet of paper from a typewriter and fling it into the air at a show's ending credits.


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