Brandon Tartikoff - Television Executive
Born in Freeport in 1949, Tartikoff helped create some of the most-watched shows of the 1980s including: Cheers, The Cosby Show, Miami Vice, St. Elsewhere, Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, Golden Girls, and Family Ties. In 1978, at the age of 31, Tartikoff became the youngest executive in television history when NBC made him president of programming. At NBC, he was responsible for signing a relatively unknown comedian named Jerry Seinfeld. In 1991, he became head of Paramount Studios, where his biggest success came with the 1991 film Wayne’s World, based on a Saturday Night Live skit. After being injured in a car accident in late 1992, Tartikoff left Paramount to become an independent producer. His production company, H. Beale was eventually sold to New World Cinema and Tartikoff was made an executive with the company.
Born in Freeport in 1949, Tartikoff helped create some of the most-watched shows of the 1980s including: Cheers, The Cosby Show, Miami Vice, St. Elsewhere, Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, Golden Girls, and Family Ties. In 1978, at the age of 31, Tartikoff became the youngest executive in television history when NBC made him president of programming. At NBC, he was responsible for signing a relatively unknown comedian named Jerry Seinfeld. In 1991, he became head of Paramount Studios, where his biggest success came with the 1991 film Wayne’s World, based on a Saturday Night Live skit. After being injured in a car accident in late 1992, Tartikoff left Paramount to become an independent producer. His production company, H. Beale was eventually sold to New World Cinema and Tartikoff was made an executive with the company.
In 1997, Tartikoff was hired by AOL to develop its entertainment-based content, but shortly thereafter suffered his third bout with cancer. He died in 1997, in Los Angeles, CA of Hodgkin’s disease at the age of 48.
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As a child, Tartikoff lived on Delaware Avenue.
Brandon’s years at NBC were chronicled in his 1992 autobiography, The Last Great Ride.
Brandon’s years at NBC were chronicled in his 1992 autobiography, The Last Great Ride.
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Source:"Brandon Tartikoff." Newsmakers 1998, Issue 1. Gale Group, 1998.
Carter, Bill. "Brandon Tartikoff, Former NBC Executive Who Transformed TV in the 80's, Dies at 48." The New York Times. 28 August 1997.
