Herman Rush, who produced television shows and served as the president of Columbia Pictures Television, has died. He was 94.
Rush died Dec. 12 of natural causes in Los Angeles, his daughter Mandie told The Hollywood Reporter.
Born in Philadelphia in 1929, Rush grew up in a show-business family; his uncle Manie Sacks was Frank Sinatra’s first manager.
In 1951, Rush began his career in television, working as a salesman for Official Film before moving up to several different leadership positions. He purchased Flamingo Films, a television syndication firm, in 1957 and turned it into a major independent syndication company.
Throughout the ’60s and early ’70s, he was with Creative Management Associates as the president of the television division. He also worked for CMA’s predecessor organization, General Artists Corp., now known as ICM, and played a huge role in the agency’s entry into television packaging. Some of the programs he was responsible for placing on networks included The Perry Como Show, The Jackie Gleason Show, The Kraft Music Hall and The Hollywood Palace.
Rush also represented producer Irwin Allen during his time making TV hits such as Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel and Land of the Giants.
In the late ’60s, Rush acquired properties from British entertainment titan Lew Grade. One of them was the popular sitcom Till Death Us Do Part, which was later shopped to Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin, who turned it into All in the Family. Rush also repackaged and produced BBC comedy series for U.S. audiences, including For the Love of Ada (A Touch of Grace) and Love Thy Neighbor.
From 1971-76, Rush served as an independent packager and producer and produced several TV movies and comedy series at ABC. During that time, he also executive produced the ABC Bicentennial Special, The American Spirit and Death Stalk, in association with David Wolper Productions.
He was appointed president of Marble Arch Television, the American subsidiary of Grade’s Associated Communications Ltd., in 1979, and the following year was named president of Columbia Pictures Television Group.
While at Columbia, he helped reestablish it as one of the major producers and distributors of TV programs and supervised the production of movies and miniseries. Rush put more than a dozen series on the air, including Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Mike Hammer and Designing Women. Rush was also at Columbia when it was purchased by the Coca-Cola Co. in 1982. (It was later merged with TriStar Pictures in 1987 to form Columbia Pictures Entertainment before Sony Pictures acquired it in 1989.)
Rush produced other TV projects throughout his career, such as The American Red Cross Emergency Test, A Users Guide to Planet Earth: The American Environment Test and The Montel Williams Show.
He also created Katz/Rush Entertainment with Raymond Katz, and that company produced The New Original Amateur Hour, The Susan Powter Show, Miss America: Behind The Crown and Nite Cap.
Rush was honored by the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters and the Caucus for Writers, Producers & Directors and served on the board of the Ojai Film Festival.
Survivors include his children, Mandie and Jim. His wife of 72 years, Joan Rush, died in October.