Allan B. Schwartz, a veteran producer and executive at companies including 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures and Fries Entertainment, has died. He was 77.
Schwartz died April 20 in Greenville, N.C., from complications related to an extended illness, a family spokeswoman said.
A native of New Haven, Conn., Schwartz started out in 1959 as a copy boy at ABC News while attending New York University. He joined NBC as a unit manager, then worked at Jules Power Productions, where he produced and directed an episode of ABC’s Discovery that featured Robert Kennedy and his family on a Colorado River rafting trip.
Schwartz also was a production executive at Edgar Scherick Productions on projects including two 1972 films: Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s Sleuth, starring Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine, and Elaine May’s The Heartbreak Kid, with Charles Grodin and Cybill Shepherd.
Later, he worked at Fox as a vice president for movies of the week; an executive producer at Columbia and Multimedia Entertainment; a programming vp at Fries; and an executive vp at Playboy Television.
Schwartz moved to Chapel Hill, N.C., to produce educational videos for the Sinclair Institute, then returned to Los Angeles to serve as executive vp entertainment for Johnson/Burnett.
Survivors include his wife Deena; children Rachel, Jennifer and Jonathan; stepson James; granddaughter Isabella; and brothers Robert and Terry.
He earlier was married to former NBC programming executive Ruth Slawson.
A private memorial will take place May 28 in Chapel Hill. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Motion Picture & Television Fund in Woodland Hills.
