Andy Friendly obit

Andy Friendly, First Producer on ‘Entertainment Tonight’ and a CNBC Executive, Dies at 74

A son of CBS News legend Fred Friendly, he also was a programming executive at syndication powerhouse King World. 

He was not on the list.

Andy Friendly, the first son of famed CBS newsman Fred Friendly who served as the first producer on Entertainment Tonight and worked as a programming executive at CNBC and King World, has died. He was 74.

Friendly died Sunday at his home in Bel-Air, his brother, David Friendly, a journalist turned film and television producer, announced. No cause of death was revealed.

His wife of 39 years, actress Patricia Crowley, who starred on the 1960s NBC series Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, died in September at age 91.

Born on Nov. 6, 1951 — the same week his dad and Edward R. Murrow launched their pioneering documentary series See It Now on CBS — Friendly graduated from USC and began his career at age 22 as a junior researcher at WNBC-TV in New York.

He met then-anchorman Tom Snyder at the station, and after becoming a writer, he produced Snyder’s Tomorrow Show in the early 1970s.

Friendly helped get Entertainment Tonight off on the right foot when he was named the first producer of the first-run syndicated program, which went on to become the longest-running daily entertainment news show in history. He received an Emmy nomination for his work in 1982.

From 1990-95, he served as vp primetime programs at CNBC, where he oversaw talk shows hosted by Snyder, Tim Russert, Geraldo Rivera and others.

“Andy was a brilliant producer and an exceptional leader who helped define CNBC during a pivotal period of growth and creativity,” Warner Bros. Discovery CEO and president David Zaslav said in a statement. “He had an extraordinary ability to spot talent, nurture ideas and bring out the very best in the people around him.

“But beyond his professional accomplishments, Andy was a special person and a dear and loyal friend. He led with generosity, humor and heart, and he cared very deeply about people. Andy made everyone feel valued, and his unique kindness and integrity will be remembered, just as powerfully as his creative legacy.”

As president of programming and production at syndication powerhouse King World Productions from 1995-2001, Friendly was responsible for programming strategy, development and production.

Friendly also was president of the Hollywood Radio & Television Society and an adjunct professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and he served on the boards of the USC Shoah Foundation and the Saban Community Clinic.

His memoir, Willing to Be Lucky: Adventures in Life and Television, was published in 2017.

In addition to David, survivors include his mother, Ruth, and his other siblings, Lisa, Richard, Michael and Jon.