Sheldon Pinchuk obit

Sheldon Pinchuk Dies: Producer Of ‘Reality Bites’, ‘Any Day Now’ & Numerous TV Movies Was 84

 He was not on the list.

Sheldon Pinchuk, partner in the Finnegan-Pinchuk Company, which produced more than 40 TV movies during the genre’s 1980s-90s heyday as well as TV series Any Day Now and Northern Exposure and features Reality Bites and The Fabulous Baker Boys, died Aug. 28 of Parkinson’s disease at his home in Calabasas. He was 84.

After getting a Bachelor’s and law degrees from UCLA, Pinchuk began his career as a business affairs executive at NBC. While working there, he earned an additional degree from UCLA’s film school and segued into a programming role. Stints at David Dortort’s company and as Head of Development at Warner Brothers followed before Pinchuk made another Hollywood career shift, becoming an agent at CAA. There, he represented the husband-and-wife producing team of William and Patricia Finnegan. Based on his lifelong love of aviation, Pinchuk pitched them an idea that became his first TV movie, the 1984 Flight 90: Disaster on the Potomac, and the trio launched a producing partnership that flourished for more than two decades.

Throughout the 80’s and 90’s, the Finnegan-Pinchuk Company, housed in the iconic building at the corner of Coldwater Canyon and Ventura Blvd., produced 50-some MOWs, features and TV series. Five of them were nominated for Emmys, and twelve have been accepted into the Library of Congress as works of cultural or historical significance. These include TV movie Amos, starring Kirk Douglas; miniseries The Atlanta Child Murders, featuring Morgan Freeman in his first leading role; and miniseries Lincoln, starring Mary Tyler Moore and Sam Waterston. William Finnegan died in 2008, also of Parkinson’s.

Pinchuk is survived by Barbara, his wife of 57 years, his 3 children, including TV executive Julie McNamara, 4 grandchildren and a slew of friends and former colleagues who remember him as a kind and graceful man known for his great wit, intelligence and integrity.

The funeral service will be held at Mt. Sinai Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills, Sept. 8 at 11:00. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the John and Julie McNamara Fund for Leukemia Research at City of Hope at cityofhope.org/Sheldon.

Producer

For the People (2002)

For the People

6.0

TV Series

executive producer

2002–2003

 

Annie Potts and Lorraine Toussaint in Any Day Now (1998)

Any Day Now

8.4

TV Series

executive producer

1998–2000

44 episodes

 

A Thousand Men and a Baby (1997)

A Thousand Men and a Baby

6.8

TV Movie

executive producer

1997

 

J.T. Walsh, Christine Lahti, Catherine O'Hara, Jena Malone, and Jeffrey D. Sams in Hope (1997)

Hope

6.4

TV Movie

executive producer

1997

 

Don Johnson and Cheech Marin in Nash Bridges (1996)

Nash Bridges

6.8

TV Series

co-executive producer

1996–1997

24 episodes

 

Runaway Car (1997)

Runaway Car

5.1

TV Movie

executive producer

1997

 

Bonnie Bedelia and Brian Austin Green in Her Costly Affair (1996)

Her Costly Affair

4.9

TV Movie

executive producer

1996

 

It Came from Outer Space II (1996)

It Came from Outer Space II

3.7

TV Movie

executive producer

1996

 

Breach of Conduct (1994)

Breach of Conduct

4.9

TV Movie

producer

1994

 

Dead Man's Revenge (1994)

Dead Man's Revenge

5.2

TV Movie

producer

1994

 

Ethan Hawke, Winona Ryder, and Ben Stiller in Reality Bites (1994)

Reality Bites

6.6

supervising producer

1994

 

James Russo in Double Deception (1993)

Double Deception

4.5

TV Movie

producer

1993

 

Black Widow Murders: The Blanche Taylor Moore Story (1993)

Black Widow Murders: The Blanche Taylor Moore Story

5.9

TV Movie

producer

1993

 

Powers Boothe and Billy Dee Williams in Marked for Murder (1993)

Marked for Murder

5.0

TV Movie

producer

1993

 

Robert Urich and Dalton James in Crossroads (1992)

Crossroads

6.9

TV Series

supervising producer

1992

1 episode

 

Quicksand: No Escape (1992)

Quicksand: No Escape

5.5

TV Movie

executive producer

1992

 

Stephanie Zimbalist and Gregory Harrison in Breaking the Silence (1992)

Breaking the Silence

6.8

TV Movie

executive producer

1992

 

Suzanne Somers and John Scott Clough in Keeping Secrets (1991)

Keeping Secrets

5.9

TV Movie

producer

1991

 

She-Wolf of London (1990)

She-Wolf of London

7.2

TV Series

executive producer

1990–1991

20 episodes

 

They Came from Outer Space (1990)

They Came from Outer Space

6.6

TV Series

executive producer

1990–1991

19 episodes

 

Barbara Eden in Hell Hath No Fury (1991)

Hell Hath No Fury

5.8

TV Movie

executive producer

1991

 

Robert Hays, Catherine Hicks, and Sam Wanamaker in Running Against Time (1990)

Running Against Time

6.2

TV Movie

executive producer

1990

 

Patty Duke in Call Me Anna (1990)

Call Me Anna

6.1

TV Movie

executive producer

1990

 

Laker Girls (1990)

Laker Girls

4.5

TV Movie

executive producer

1990

 

Spooner (1989)

Spooner

6.7

TV Movie

producer

1989

 

Robert Urich in Murder by Night (1989)

Murder by Night

5.3

TV Movie

executive producer

1989

 

Dark Holiday (1989)

Dark Holiday

5.5

TV Movie

supervising producer

1989

 

She Knows Too Much (1989)

She Knows Too Much

5.3

TV Movie

producer

1989

 

Goodbye, Miss 4th of July (1988)

Goodbye, Miss 4th of July

6.9

TV Movie

producer

1988

 

Going to the Chapel (1988)

Going to the Chapel

5.8

TV Movie

producer

1988

 

Baby Boom (1988)

Baby Boom

5.6

TV Series

supervising producer

1988

1 episode

 

A Friendship in Vienna (1988)

A Friendship in Vienna

6.7

TV Movie

executive producer

1988

 

King of the Olympics: The Lives and Loves of Avery Brundage (1988)

King of the Olympics: The Lives and Loves of Avery Brundage

6.4

TV Movie

producer

1988

 

Sam Waterston in Lincoln (1988)

Lincoln

7.0

TV Mini Series

executive producer

1988

2 episodes

 

Jason Bateman and Chynna Phillips in Moving Target (1988)

Moving Target

5.7

TV Movie

producer (uncredited)

1988

 

Blair Brown in The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd (1987)

The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd

8.1

TV Series

supervising producer

1987

13 episodes

 

Baby Girl Scott (1987)

Baby Girl Scott

7.4

TV Movie

producer

1987

 

The Alamo: Thirteen Days to Glory (1987)

The Alamo: Thirteen Days to Glory

6.1

TV Movie

producer

1987

 

Treat Williams in J. Edgar Hoover (1987)

J. Edgar Hoover

6.8

TV Movie

executive producer

1987

 

Drew Barrymore, Keanu Reeves, Pat Morita, and Jill Schoelen in Babes in Toyland (1986)

Babes in Toyland

5.2

TV Movie

executive producer

1986

 

Louis L'Amour's Down the Long Hills (1986)

Louis L'Amour's Down the Long Hills

6.5

TV Movie

executive producer

1986

 

Circle of Violence: A Family Drama (1986)

Circle of Violence: A Family Drama

6.1

TV Movie

producer

1986

 

News at Eleven (1986)

News at Eleven

6.4

TV Movie

producer

1986

 

Amos (1985)

Amos

6.9

TV Movie

producer

1985

 

James Earl Jones, Martin Sheen, Jason Robards, Rip Torn, and Calvin Levels in The Atlanta Child Murders (1985)

The Atlanta Child Murders

6.7

TV Mini Series

producer

1985

2 episodes

 

Not My Kid (1985)

Not My Kid

5.8

TV Movie

producer (uncredited)

1985

 

Flight 90: Disaster on the Potomac (1984)

Flight 90: Disaster on the Potomac

5.9

TV Movie

executive producer

1984