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IMDbPro

Douglas S. Cramer(1931-2021)

  • Producer
  • Production Manager
  • Writer
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Douglas S. Cramer is one of the most successful producers in the history of television, and a well-known collector of modern art who has served on the boards of numerous museums. He began as a TV executive for Proctor & Gamble in the late 1950s after earning a Master's degree from Columbia University. He skyrocketed to prominence throughout the 1960s, serving as an Executive Vice President at 20th Century-Fox, head of Paramount TV (where he worked on The Brady Bunch (1969), Mission: Impossible (1966) and The Odd Couple (1970), among many others) and head of programming at ABC Television, where he was the boss of future moguls Barry Diller and Michael Eisner.

In the late 1960s Cramer became an independent producer, creating TV movies and series. He went on to produce the first mini-series, QB VII (1974) (winner of multiple Emmys), over 100 made-for-TV movies and such successful such as The Love Boat (1977), Dynasty (1981), The Colbys (1985), Matt Houston (1982), Vega$ (1978), Wonder Woman (1975) and many others, dominating the ABC line-up for several years, and shooting dozens of TV series pilots. He was an equal partner with Aaron Spelling for nearly 15 years (1974-1989), during which he amassed a considerable fortune, even as he generally stayed behind the scenes.

Once he and Spelling ended their partnership, Cramer's incredible string of successes came to an end. In 1989 he managed just one more big success: a multi-year deal to do 23 Danielle Steel movies for NBC. At this time Cramer met and fell in love with writer Hugh Bush and began to develop projects almost exclusively for him to write, direct and produce. This included Cramer's only feature film, Sleeping Together (1997), which Cramer self-financed for Bush to write and direct but which never found theatrical distribution. While ex-partner Spelling continued to succeed with such mega-hits as Melrose Place (1992) and Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990), Cramer's instincts seemed to fall out of step with the changing tastes of the public, as he experienced repeated failures for the first time in his career. Unable to sell television or film projects, Cramer retreated to Manhattan, where he continues to enjoy life as a patron of the arts with Bush as a domestic partner. Although now openly gay, Cramer was married to gossip columnist Joyce Haber and had two children, Douglas S. Cramer III and Courtney Cramer. Haber, related to prominent agent Bill Haber, tragically died of cancer. Also tragic was the suicide of Courtney Cramer before the age of 30, and the estrangement of Cramer's son Douglas S. Cramer III. Despite this personal turmoil, Cramer's career skyrocketed him to the heights of a TV mogul, making him worth an estimated $300 million at his zenith, with his $100-million modern art collection counted among the largest in the world. Once the owner of numerous enviable estates around the world, Cramer has since scaled back to Manhattan, Martha's Vineyard, and Roxbury, where he now lives with Hugh Bush.
BornAugust 22, 1931
DiedJune 7, 2021(89)
BornAugust 22, 1931
DiedJune 7, 2021(89)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Add photos, demo reels
  • Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys
    • 2 nominations total

Known for

Dynasty (1981)
Dynasty
6.4
TV Series
  • Producer
Anthony Hopkins, Ben Gazzara, Lee Remick, and Leslie Caron in QB VII (1974)
QB VII
7.7
TV Mini Series
  • Producer
Star Trek (1966)
Star Trek
8.4
TV Series
  • Production Manager
CBS Summer Playhouse (1987)
CBS Summer Playhouse
6.4
TV Series
  • Producer

Credits

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IMDbPro

Producer



  • Charles Bronson and Kim Weeks in Family of Cops III: Under Suspicion (1999)
    Family of Cops III: Under Suspicion
    5.4
    TV Movie
    • executive producer
    • 1999
  • Cameron Bancroft and Caprice Benedetti in Sleeping Together (1997)
    Sleeping Together
    6.3
    • producer
    • 1997
  • Charles Bronson in Breach of Faith: A Family of Cops II (1997)
    Breach of Faith: A Family of Cops II
    5.2
    TV Movie
    • executive producer
    • 1997
  • The Ring (1996)
    The Ring
    7.2
    TV Movie
    • executive producer
    • 1996
  • Corbin Bernsen and Teri Polo in Full Circle (1996)
    Full Circle
    5.4
    TV Movie
    • executive producer
    • 1996
  • Eva LaRue and Jeffrey Nordling in Remembrance (1996)
    Remembrance
    6.1
    TV Movie
    • executive producer
    • 1996
  • Mixed Blessings (1995)
    Mixed Blessings
    5.8
    TV Movie
    • executive producer
    • 1995
  • Charles Bronson in Family of Cops (1995)
    Family of Cops
    5.4
    TV Movie
    • executive producer
    • 1995
  • No Greater Love (1995)
    No Greater Love
    5.8
    TV Movie
    • executive producer
    • 1995
  • Zoya (1995)
    Zoya
    6.5
    TV Movie
    • executive producer
    • 1995
  • Vanished (1995)
    Vanished
    5.6
    TV Movie
    • executive producer
    • 1995
  • Family Album (1994)
    Family Album
    6.3
    TV Mini Series
    • executive producer
    • 1994
  • Stacy Haiduk and Robert Urich in A Perfect Stranger (1994)
    A Perfect Stranger
    6.1
    TV Movie
    • executive producer
    • 1994
  • Barry Bostwick, Darrell Thomas Utley, and Lindsay Wagner in Once in a Lifetime (1994)
    Once in a Lifetime
    6.1
    TV Movie
    • executive producer
    • 1994
  • Michael Michele and Dean Tarrolly in Trade Winds (1993)
    Trade Winds
    7.4
    TV Mini Series
    • executive producer
    • 1993

Production Manager



  • Terror in the Sky (1971)
    Terror in the Sky
    5.7
    TV Movie
    • executive vice president in charge of production
    • 1971
  • Escape (1971)
    Escape
    5.5
    TV Movie
    • executive vice president in charge of production
    • 1971
  • 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
    • executive vice president in charge of production
    • 1969–1971
  • The Young Lawyers (1969)
    The Young Lawyers
    7.0
    TV Series
    • executive vice president in charge of production
    • 1969–1971
  • Barbara Bain, Martin Landau, Peter Graves, Peter Lupus, and Greg Morris in Mission: Impossible (1966)
    Mission: Impossible
    7.9
    TV Series
    • executive vice president in charge of production
    • 1968–1971
  • Mannix (1967)
    Mannix
    7.4
    TV Series
    • executive vice president in charge of production
    • 1968–1971
  • Jack Klugman and Tony Randall in The Odd Couple (1970)
    The Odd Couple
    7.9
    TV Series
    • executive vice president in charge of production: Paramount Television
    • executive vice president in charge of production
    • 1970–1971
  • Bruce Lee and James Franciscus in Longstreet (1971)
    Longstreet
    7.8
    TV Series
    • executive vice president in charge of production
    • 1971
  • Dr. Cook's Garden (1971)
    Dr. Cook's Garden
    6.9
    TV Movie
    • executive in charge of production
    • 1971
  • Christopher George in The Immortal (1969)
    The Immortal
    7.5
    TV Series
    • executive vice president in charge of production
    • 1969–1971
  • Leonard Nimoy in Assault on the Wayne (1971)
    Assault on the Wayne
    6.0
    TV Movie
    • executive vice president in charge of production
    • 1971
  • Love, American Style (1969)
    Love, American Style
    6.8
    TV Series
    • executive vice president in charge of production
    • 1969–1971
  • Weekend of Terror (1970)
    Weekend of Terror
    5.6
    TV Movie
    • executive vice president in charge of production
    • 1970
  • Scoey Mitchell and Tracy Reed in Barefoot in the Park (1970)
    Barefoot in the Park
    6.8
    TV Series
    • executive vice president in charge of production
    • 1970
  • Quarantined (1970)
    Quarantined
    6.3
    TV Movie
    • executive vice president in charge of production
    • 1970

Writer



  • Meredith Baxter in The Cat Creature (1973)
    The Cat Creature
    5.7
    TV Movie
    • story
    • 1973

Personal details

Edit
  • Alternative name
    • Douglas & Joyce
  • Height
    • 5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
  • Born
    • August 22, 1931
    • Louisville, Kentucky, USA
  • Died
    • June 7, 2021
    • Vineyard Haven. Massachusetts, USA(heart and kidney failure)
  • Spouses
      Hubert Bush2006 - June 4, 2021 (his death)
  • Other works
    DVD commentary: Provided audio commentary for the pilot episode of the Wonder Woman (1975) series when its first season was released in DVD format on June 29, 2004. Also provided a filmed retrospective, along with star Lynda Carter and several other "Wonder Woman" historians as a bonus feature to the DVD set.

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Was at one point the head of Paramount Television, the TV arm of Paramount Pictures.
  • Nickname
    • Doug

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