Sam Strangis obit

Sam Strangis, ‘Six Million Dollar Man’ and ‘CSI’ Producer, Dies at 95

He also directed episodes of ‘The Restless Gun’ and ‘Batman’ and served two stints as a TV executive with Paramount. 

He was not on the list.

Sam Strangis, the Emmy-nominated producer, director and studio executive who worked on Batman, The Six Million Dollar Man and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation during his five-decade career, has died. He was 95.

Strangis died July 23 of kidney failure at Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center in Torrance, California, a family spokesperson announced.

As head of production at Paramount Studios starting in the late 1960s, Strangis guided such memorable series as Mannix, The Odd Couple, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, The Brady Bunch, Love, American Style and Mission: Impossible.

With then-producing partner Don Boyle, he exited Paramount in 1974 to produce ABC’s new The Six Million Dollar Man, starring Lee Majors, for Universal Television. He followed by shepherding telefilms before returning to Paramount as vice president of TV production.

He would leave the studio again, this time to launch Ten-Four Productions, an independent production company that made such TV movies as 1978’s Rainbow (the story of Judy Garland as a young star), 1991’s Reason for Living: The Jill Ireland Story and 1993’s The Rainbow Warrior.

Strangis concluded his career by producing CBS’ CSI: Crime Scene Investigation during its first two seasons (2000-02) and the spinoff CSI: Miami during its first season (2002-03). In 2002, he shared an Emmy nomination for best drama series for the flagship.

Born on June 19, 1929, in Tacoma, Washington, he began his career as a script supervisor at Revue Studios. That led to him directing episodes of the 1957-59 NBC series The Restless Gun, a post-Civil War Western that starred John Payne.

After serving as a production manager and directing nine third-season episodes of ABC’s Batman from 1966-68 — he also worked on the 1966 feature — he began his first stint at Paramount.

Survivors include his wife, Bonnie (they married in 1968); daughter Debi; sons Gary, a producer (The Practice), and Greg, a writer and producer (Eight Is Enough, Falcon Crest); sisters Judy (an actress) and Cindy; five grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.

Services were held Aug. 22 at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church in Brentwood.

 

Production Manager

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000)

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

7.7

TV Series

unit production manager

2000–2001

6 episodes

 

Eve Plumb, Florence Henderson, Susan Olsen, Robert Reed, Ann B. Davis, Christopher Knight, Mike Lookinland, Maureen McCormick, and Barry Williams in The Brady Bunch (1969)

The Brady Bunch

6.8

TV Series

vice president of production: Paramount Television

production manager: Paramount Television

1969–1973

95 episodes

 

The Weekend Nun (1972)

The Weekend Nun

7.3

TV Movie

vice president: production

1972

 

Night of Terror (1972)

Night of Terror

5.7

TV Movie

vice president of production: Paramount Television

1972

 

Kate Jackson and Robert Foxworth in The New Healers (1972)

The New Healers

5.3

TV Movie

production manager: Paramount Television

1972

 

Bruce Lee and James Franciscus in Longstreet (1971)

Longstreet

7.8

TV Series

production manager: Paramount Television

1971–1972

24 episodes

 

Women in Chains (1972)

Women in Chains

6.1

TV Movie

production manager: Paramount Television

1972

 

Jack Klugman and Tony Randall in The Odd Couple (1970)

The Odd Couple

7.9

TV Series

production manager

production manager: Paramount Television

1970–1971

10 episodes

 

Love, American Style (1969)

Love, American Style

6.8

TV Series

production manager: Paramount Television

1969–1971

26 episodes

 

Terror in the Sky (1971)

Terror in the Sky

5.7

TV Movie

production manager

1971

 

The Young Lawyers (1969)

The Young Lawyers

7.2

TV Series

production manager: Paramount Television

production manager

1969–1971

25 episodes

 

Dr. Cook's Garden (1971)

Dr. Cook's Garden

7.1

TV Movie

production manager

1971

 

Christopher George in The Immortal (1969)

The Immortal

7.6

TV Series

production manager

production manager: Paramount Television

1969–1971

16 episodes

 

Leonard Nimoy in Assault on the Wayne (1971)

Assault on the Wayne

6.0

TV Movie

production manager: Paramount Television

1971

 

Weekend of Terror (1970)

Weekend of Terror

5.7

TV Movie

production manager

1970

 

Quarantined (1970)

Quarantined

6.4

TV Movie

production manager

1970

 

The Silent Gun (1969)

The Silent Gun

6.7

TV Movie

production manager: Paramount Television

1969

 

Seven in Darkness (1969)

Seven in Darkness

6.4

TV Movie

production manager

1969

 

The Big Bounce (1969)

The Big Bounce

5.4

unit manager

1969

 

Adam West and Burt Ward in Batman (1966)

Batman

7.5

TV Series

unit production manager

1966–1968

110 episodes

 

Adam West, Cesar Romero, Frank Gorshin, Burgess Meredith, Lee Meriwether, and Burt Ward in Batman: The Movie (1966)

Batman: The Movie

6.5

unit production manager

1966

 

Producer

David Caruso, Eva LaRue, Rex Linn, Omar Benson Miller, Emily Procter, Adam Rodriguez, and Jonathan Togo in CSI: Miami (2002)

CSI: Miami

6.5

TV Series

executive producer

co-executive producer

2002–2003

24 episodes

 

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000)

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

7.7

TV Series

co-executive producer

2000–2002

43 episodes

 

Dennis Rodman, Tim Abell, Melinda Clarke, David Eigenberg, and Brad Johnson in Soldier of Fortune, Inc. (1997)

Soldier of Fortune, Inc.

6.9

TV Series

producer

1997–1999

27 episodes

 

The Rainbow Warrior (1993)

The Rainbow Warrior

5.5

TV Movie

producer

1993

 

Alex Cord in War of the Worlds (1988)

War of the Worlds

6.5

TV Series

executive producer

1988–1989

24 episodes

 

Talk Radio (1988)

Talk Radio

7.2

executive producer

1988

 

Ghost of a Chance (1987)

Ghost of a Chance

6.2

TV Movie

producer

1987

 

CBS Schoolbreak Special (1984)

CBS Schoolbreak Special

6.8

TV Series

executive producer

1987

1 episode

 

Kirstie Alley and Nicolas Surovy in Stark: Mirror Image (1986)

Stark: Mirror Image

5.8

TV Movie

supervising producer

1986

 

Chase (1985)

Chase

5.7

TV Movie

producer

1985

 

Stark (1985)

Stark

5.6

TV Movie

supervising producer

1985

 

He's Not Your Son (1984)

He's Not Your Son

5.8

TV Movie

producer

1984

 

I Gave at the Office

TV Series

producer

1984

1 episode

 

Not Just Another Affair (1982)

Not Just Another Affair

5.5

TV Movie

executive producer

1982

 

Harper Valley P.T.A. (1981)

Harper Valley P.T.A.

6.7

TV Series

executive producer

1981–1982

4 episodes

 

Pigs vs. Freaks (1982)

Pigs vs. Freaks

6.0

TV Movie

executive producer

1982

 

Gridlock (1980)

Gridlock

5.9

TV Movie

executive producer

1980

 

Helen Shaver, Donann Cavin, Michael J. Reynolds, and Michael Tough in Search and Rescue: The Alpha Team (1977)

Search and Rescue: The Alpha Team

7.2

TV Series

supervising producer

1977–1978

2 episodes

 

Aloha Means Goodbye

6.4

TV Movie

producer

1974

 

Lee Majors in The Six Million Dollar Man (1973)

The Six Million Dollar Man

7.1

TV Series

producer

1974

13 episodes

 

Second Unit or Assistant Director

Embeth Davidtz and Anthony LaPaglia in The Garden of Redemption (1997)

The Garden of Redemption

5.4

TV Movie

second unit director

1997

 

Adam West and Burt Ward in Batman (1966)

Batman

7.5

TV Series

assistant director

1966

2 episodes

 

Lloyd Bridges in The Loner (1965)

The Loner

7.6

TV Series

assistant director

1965–1966

7 episodes

 

Profiles in Courage (1964)

Profiles in Courage

8.2

TV Series

assistant director

1965

1 episode

 

Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, and Joseph Cotten in Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)

Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte

7.5

assistant director

1964

 

The Patty Duke Show (1963)

The Patty Duke Show

7.2

TV Series

assistant director

1963

1 episode

 

Leslie Nielsen, John Beradino, John Clarke, and Greg Roman in The New Breed (1961)

The New Breed

7.8

TV Series

second assistant director

1961–1962

14 episodes