Bernie Kahn obit

Bernie Kahn, Writer on ‘Bewitched,’ ‘Get Smart’ and ‘Super Friends,’ Dies at 90

The Brooklyn native started out in radio working for the legendary Bob & Ray comedy team.

 He was not on the list.

Bernie Kahn, a sitcom writer who contributed to episodes of such shows as Bewitched, Get Smart, Maude and Three’s Company, has died. He was 90.

Kahn died Wednesday at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, his family announced.

Kahn wrote more than 100 episodes of television during his career; his credits included My Favorite Martian, My Mother the Car, Petticoat Junction, My World and Welcome to It, Honey West, The Addams Family, Love, American Style, The Brady Bunch, Room 222, The Partridge Family, Chico and the Man and The Love Boat.

A two-time WGA Award nominee, Kahn penned 15 episodes of ABC’s Bewitched, starring Elizabeth Montgomery, from 1967-72 and 16 installments of the ABC cartoon Super Friends in 1973. He also created the 1978-79 NBC comedy Joe & Valerie, starring Paul Regina and Char Fontane.

Born in Brooklyn on April 26, 1930, Kahn was an excellent swimmer in high school, winning city and state titles as well as Junior National and Boys Club of America championships.

He received a swimming scholarship to the University of Michigan — where he would earn his bachelor and master’s degrees in English literature — and in 1953, he won a gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke at the Maccabiah Games in Israel. (Ten years ago, he was inducted into the Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.)

Drafted into the U.S. Army during the Korean War, Kahn got his first taste of show business when he ran his own radio talk show on his Maryland base. After the service, he wrote for such radio programs as NBC’s Monitor and for the legendary Bob & Ray (Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding) comedy team.

He worked on game shows like NBC’s Your First Impression before shifting to sitcoms.

Kahn also wrote the 1985 comedy feature Basic Training and several telefilms.

Survivors include his wife, Elinor Berger; three daughters; two step-children; and five grandchildren. Donations in his memory can be made to the Motion Picture & Television Fund.