Herman Rush, who produced several television shows and was the former president of Columbia Pictures Television, has died. He was 94.
Rush died on Dec. 12 of natural causes in Los Angeles, his daughter Mandie told The Hollywood Reporter.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1929, Rush grew up in a show-business family, with his uncle Manie Sacks being Frank Sinatra’s first manager.
In 1951, Rush began his career in television, working first as a salesman for Official Film before moving up to several different leadership positions. He later purchased Flamingo Films, a television syndication firm, in 1957 and turned it into a major independent syndication company.
Throughout the ’60s and early ’70s, he was with Creative Management Associates as the president of the television division. He also worked for CMA’s predecessor organization, General Artists Corporation, now known as International Creative Management, and played a huge role in the agency’s entry into television packaging. Some of the shows he was responsible for placing on networks included The Perry Como Show, The Jackie Gleason Show, The Kraft Music Hall and The Hollywood Palace.
Rush also represented producer Irwin Allen during his time making TV hits such as Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost In Space, The Time Tunnel and Land of the Giants.
In the late ’60s, Rush acquired properties from British entertainment titan Lord Lew Grade. One of them was the popular sitcom Till Death Us Do Part, which was later shopped to Norman Lear, who turned it into All in the Family. Rush also repackaged and produced a number of BBC comedy TV series for American audiences, including For the Love of Ada (A Touch of Grace) and Love Thy Neighbor.
From 1971 to 1976, Rush served as an independent TV packager and producer and produced several TV movies and comedy series at ABC. During that time, he also executive produced the ABC Bicentennial Special, The American Spirit and Death Stalk, in association with David Wolper Productions.
He was appointed president of Marble Arch Television, the American subsidiary of Lord Lew Grades’ Associated Communications Limited, in 1979, but the following year was named president of Columbia Pictures Television Group.
While at Columbia Pictures, he helped reestablish it as one of the major producers and distributors of TV programs, as well as supervised the production of a number of movies and mini-series. Rush put more than a dozen series on the air, including Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Mike Hammer and Designing Women. Rush was also at Columbia when it was purchased by The Coca-Cola Company in 1982. (It was later merged with Tri-Star Pictures in 1987 to form Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc. before Sony Pictures acquired it in 1989.)
Rush produced several other TV projects throughout his career, such as The American Red Cross Emergency Test, A Users Guide to Planet Earth: The American Environment Test and The Montel Williams Show.
He also created Katz/Rush Entertainment with Raymond Katz, which produced The New Original Amateur Hour, The Susan Powter Show, Miss America: Behind The Crown and Nite Cap.
For his impact on the TV industry, Rush was honored by the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters and The Caucus for Writers, Producers and Directors. He also served on the board of the Ojai Film Festival.
Rush is survived by his two children, Mandie and Jim, with whom he shares with his wife of 72 years, Joan Rush, who died in October.
