4 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Gary Smith, Master Producer of TV Entertainment, Dies at 90
Gary Smith, an Emmy Award-winning television producer who specialized in creating sophisticated programming for stars like Barbra Streisand, Elvis Presley and Mikhail Baryshnikov, died on July 18 in Los Angeles. He was 90.
The death, in a hospital, was confirmed by a family spokesman.
Mr. Smith's partner for nearly 40 years in the production of TV specials, awards shows and extravaganzas was Dwight Hemion. Their many collaborations, which began in the 1960s, earned them numerous Primetime Emmy Awards. Mr. Smith also won several more on his own.
'They helped define the best of American variety television entertainment, from intimate musical specials to celebrations of history like 'Liberty Weekend'' (commemorating the restoration of the Statue of Liberty in 1986), said Ron Simon, the head curator of the Paley Center for Media.
Mr. Smith said in an interview with the Television Academy in 2001 that conversations with stars were critical to determining the theme of a special. He recalled that Mr. Baryshnikov told him that 'A Chorus Line,' which he saw sometime after his defection from the Soviet Union in 1974, 'really knocked me out.'
That was the hook that Mr. Smith said he needed to develop the 1980 special 'Baryshnikov on Broadway.' In that show, Liza Minnelli guides Mr. Baryshnikov on a dreamlike tour of Broadway musicals, and he leaps assuredly into each one, dancing in one familiar production number after another from 'Oklahoma!,' 'Fiddler on the Roof,' 'A Chorus Line' and other musicals.
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