Douglas S. Cramer

Douglas Schoolfield Cramer(August 22, 1931 – June 4, 2021) was an American television producer who worked forParamount TelevisionandSpelling Television,producing series such asMission: Impossible,The Brady Bunch,andDynasty.

Career

Cramer, a native ofLouisville, Kentuckyand graduate ofWalnut Hills High SchoolinCincinnati, Ohio,began his career in advertising, serving as a broadcast supervisor onLever BrothersandGeneral Foodsprograms atOgilvy & Matherin New York City. In 1962, he became Director of Program Planning atABC Television.In 1966, he became vice president of television program development at20th Century Fox;he later became executive vice president in charge of production forParamount Televisionin 1968, in which role he was responsible for such television shows asStar Trek,The Odd Couple,The Brady Bunch,andMission: Impossible.In 1971, Cramer left Paramount to form his own production company, which had produced theWonder Womantelevision series.

Cramer joinedAaron Spelling's production company in 1976. Cramer was an executive producer on the 1980s seriesDynasty,itsspin-offseriesThe Colbys,and the 1991 miniseriesDynasty: The Reunion.

Cramer produced 20 of the 22 miniseries adaptations ofDanielle Steel's novels; the exceptions beingJewels(1992) and the first,Now and Forever(1983).

Cramer was nominated for anEmmy Awardfor Outstanding Special – Drama or Comedy in 1975 forQB VII,and again for Outstanding Drama Series in 1982 forDynasty.

Cramer provided audio commentary for the pilot episode of theWonder Womantelevision series starringLynda Carter(who joined him on the commentary) on theRegion 1DVDfor the first season.

Art collection

Cramer was one of America's leading collectors ofcontemporary art;works from his collections, including pieces byRoy Lichtenstein,Ellsworth Kelly,andMark di Suvero,have been shown at some of the leading art museums in the United States, and have been auctioned atSotheby'sandChristie's(1997, 2012). In May 1997, Cramer sold 22 contemporary sculptures at Christie's in New York, for a total of $2.9 million, with proceeds of the sale going to the Douglas S. Cramer Foundation. In 2008, Cramer soldMan-Crazy Nurse #2byRichard Princefor $7.4 million.

While working in New York City, he starting buying prints by 20th-century Modernists, then by the younger artists there who were friends withJim Dine,Jasper Johns,Roy Lichtenstein,Ellsworth Kelly,Agnes Martin,Eva Hesse,and others. In Los Angeles, Cramer started collecting Californian artists. He became one of the founders of theLos Angeles Museum of Contemporary Artand was president of its board of trustees from 1990 to 1993.At MOCA alone, he spearheaded art auctions, donated major artworks, and provided funds for a 1997Ellsworth Kellyretrospective. He ended a 13-year tenure at MOCA in 1996, rotating off the board in accordance with a policy enacted in 1993.He donated hundreds of artworks to museums, including sculptures byAnthony CaroandRichard SerratoTate Modernin London and works by Kelly,Joel Shapiro,andAndy Warholto theMuseum of Modern Artin New York City, where he was a member of the board from 1993 on.

Cramer also established the Douglas S. Cramer Foundation with two buildings and five different exhibition spaces on his 420-acre ranch, called La Quinta Norte, in theSanta Ynez Valley,nearLos Olivos, California.

Personal life

From 1966 to 1972, Cramer was married to famedLos Angeles Timesgossip columnistJoyce Haber.Together they had two children, Douglas S. Cramer III and Courtney Cramer. In 1994 (the year after Haber's death), Cramer attempted to produce a fictionalized, two-act play about the marriage, entitledThe Last Great Dish.

Cramer moved to the east coast in 1997,subsequently came out as gay, and, in 2006, married artist Hubert "Hugh" Bush.In the later years of Cramer's life, the couple resided inMiami Beach, Florida.

On June 4, 2021, Cramer died fromheartandkidney failureat his home onMartha's Vineyard,at the age of 89.

Selected credits

• Star Trek(1968–1969), 24 episodes
• The Cat Creature(1973, TV Movie)
• QB VII(1974, miniseries)
• Wonder Woman(1975–1977)
• Who Is the Black Dahlia?(1975, TV movie)
• The San Pedro Beach Bums(1977)
• The Love Boat(1977–1986)
• Dynasty(1981–1989)
• The Colbys(1985–1987)
• Nightingales(1989)
• Dynasty: The Reunion(1991, TV Movie)
• Family Album(1994, miniseries)
• The Ring(1996, miniseries)

External links

• Douglas S. CrameratIMDb
• Douglas S. CrameratThe Interviews: An Oral History of Television