Lafferty, Perry 1917–2005

(Perry Francis Lafferty)

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born October 3, 1917, in Davenport, IA; died of prostate cancer, August 25, 2005, in Century City, CA. Television producer, director, and author. Lafferty was a former television executive at the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) who was credited with bringing such award-winning programs as MASH, All in the Family, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show to audiences. He was also a gifted pianist who went on to earn a music certificate at Yale University in 1938. He then worked in radio in New York City before World War II. With America's entry into the war, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces, where he produced radio shows for the troops. After the war, Lafferty entered television work by becoming a producer and director for such shows as Studio One, Twilight Zone, Rawhide, and The Danny Kaye Show. The quality of these shows led him to be hired by CBS as vice president of programs. It was here that Lafferty became well known. Unafraid of producing ground-breaking series, his other credits included Hawaii Five-O, The Bill Cosby Show, Sonny and Cher, and The Bob Newhart Show. He left CBS in 1976, joining NBC in 1979 as senior vice president of movies, miniseries, and special projects. Here, he continued to produce cutting-edge movies, such as 1985's An Early Frost, a drama about AIDS that was broadcast when the epidemic was first gaining national attention. He worked at NBC through the early 1980s before retiring. Lafferty then embarked on a career as a mystery novelist. Among his books are Birdies Sing and Everything (1964), How to Lose Your Fear of Flying (1980), and Jablonski of L.A. (1991).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Los Angeles Times, September 9, 2005, p. B8.

New York Times, September 18, 2005, p. A33.

Variety, September 12, 2005, p. 81.