George Eckstein, May 3, 1928 – Sept. 12, 2009, producer of top television shows and screenwriter, died at his Brentwood, Calif. Home of lung cancer according to his daughter Jennifer. He was 81.
He was a writer, an associate producer and co-producer of the popular series “The Fugitive” starring David Janssen as Dr. Richard Kimble.
The show ran from 1963 to 1967 and was about trials and tribulations of Dr. Kimble, falsely accused of murdering his wife, convicted and sentenced to die. For the next four years, he stays on the run from his escort, Lt. Philip Gerard (Barry Morse), frequently changing jobs and identities as he searches for the one-armed man who actually committed the murder.
Eckstein wrote 10 episodes of the show and along with Michael Zagor, co-write the final two-part story, "The Judgment." When that final episode aired on Aug. 29, 1967, 72% of the viewing audience watched it, making it a record for a single episode of a series, a record that was not broken until “Dallas” when the "Who Shot J.R.?" episode aired in 1980.
Well thought of throughout the industry, TV writer and producer Dean Hargrove who worked with Eckstein at Universal when they were producers on "The Name of the Game" and on various other shows, commented, "George was a very thoughtful, soft-spoken, extremely intelligent, very creative producer with a great dry sense of humor.”
Steven Spielberg said of Eckstein, "George hired me to direct his ABC Movie of the Week, 'Duel,' and my career was never the same…I owe so much to him for having the courage to hire a kid to do a man's job. George had passion for telling highly original stories and was a wonderful mentor to me and so many others. I will miss his quiet dignity."
George Eckstein is survived by his daughter, Jennifer, his wife of 41 years, Selette Cole, his daughters, Nora Eckstein Sekowski and Hallie Todd Withrow; and two granddaughters.
