Famous Television Producers a to z

Ben Affleck is known for co-writing and acting in Good Will Hunting, starring in Armageddon, and directing, co-producing and acting in Argo.

Judd Apatow is an Emmy-winning screenwriter, producer and director known for films like The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up and This Is 40.

Scott Baio is a comedic actor and former teen heartthrob best known for his television roles as Chachi on Happy Days and as Charles on Charles in Charge.

Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director and producer best known for films such as The Seventh Sea (1956), Cries and Whispers (1971) and Autumn Sonata (1978).

Steven Bochco is a US television producer and writer. He is famous for creating Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law and NYPD Blue.

Don Brinkley is known for his work on several TV programs, including Wanted: Dead or Alive, The Untouchables and The Fugitive. He is the legal father of supermodel Christie Brinkley.

James L. Brooks is an American director, producer and screenwriter, best-known for The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda and Taxi.

Mel Brooks is an iconic filmmaker known for comedies like The Producers, Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, among other works.

Jerry Bruckheimer is an American film and television producer who brought audiences the film Top Gun and the television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

British-born Mark Burnett produced and directed a number of highly popular shows in the United States, including Survivor and The Apprentice.

Shaun Cassidy became a pop music sensation in the 1970s, much like his older half-brother David Cassidy. His first two albums sold more than 5 million copies.

Child actor Jackie Cooper was in the Our Gang short film series and the Little Rascals television show. He also starred in the 1931 film The Champ.

American television icon Don Cornelius created and hosted Soul Train, which spent more than 30 years on the air.

Jeff Corwin is a conservationist and the television host and producer of The Jeff Corwin Experience on the Animal Planet network.

Bill Cosby is an American comedian, actor and producer, who has played a major role in the development of more positive portrayal of African-Americans on television.

Michael Crichton was an American author best known for his sci-fi and medical thrillers. The movie based on his book, Jurassic Park, was one of the highest-grossing films in history.

Director and producer Ted Demme created Yo! MTV Raps, and worked on the films Beautiful Girls, Life and Blow.

Actor, director and writer Laura Dern, daughter of actors Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd, has played everything from willowy ingénues to drug-addicted washouts. She's known for starring in Jurassic Park, and for co-producing and starring on the series Enlightened.

Shannen Doherty is best known for her roles as Heather Duke in the film Heathers and on TV as Brenda in Beverly Hills, 90210 and as Prue in Charmed.

Edward, Earl of Wessex is son to Queen Elizabeth II and husband to Sophie Rhys-Jones. A former theater and television producer, he remains active in charity.

Tina Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer best known for her roles on Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock.

Al Franken is the junior senator of Minnesota who first gained notice as a comedian and political satirist during his long tenure on Saturday Night Live.

A pioneer in children’s TV programming, Joan Ganz Cooney founded the Children’s Television Workshop (CTW). It’s first television series was Sesame Street.

Ricky Gervais is a British comedian best known for co-writing and co-directing the television series The Office.

Leeza Gibbons is an entertainment personality. She's known for hosting the TV shows Entertainment Tonight and Extra, as well as her own radio show, Hollywood Confidential.

Television producer Mark Goodson created many of the best-loved game shows of the 20th century, including What's My Line, The Price is Right and Family Feud.

Merv Griffin was an American television host, singer and business magnate. He created the game shows Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune and Click.

Matt Groening is a cartoonist and creator of The Simpsons, the longest-running entertainment series in prime time television.

Larry Hagman starred opposite Barbara Eden on the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie and played J.R. Ewing on the primetime drama Dallas.

Don Hewitt was a television producer who created the long-running news show 60 Minutes.

Naturalist Terri Irwin is well-known as the widow of wildlife expert Steve Irwin. The couple co-hosted the Animal Planet show The Crocodile Hunter.

Alejandro Gonzales Iñárritu is a Mexican film director whose 1999 feature film, Amores Perros, won an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.

Quincy Jones is best known as a composer and record producer for legendary musicians such as Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Celene Dion and Aretha Franklin.

Spike Jonze is best known for his films Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Where the Wild Things Are. He produced MTV's Jackass.

Former supermodel Heidi Klum has produced and served as host and judge of Project Runway, a competitive reality television series about fashion designers.

Ashton Kutcher's first acting gig, playing Kelso on That '70s Show, led him to roles in films like Guess Who, A Lot Like Love, The Guardian, No Strings Attached and Jobs. The actor, model and producer married Demi Moore in 2005.

Stan Lee is a revered comic-book creator who co-launched superheroes like the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and the X-Men for Marvel Comics.

Actor, writer and producer James Lipton founded the Actors Studio Drama School and has hosted Bravo TV's Inside the Actors Studio since 1994.

Seth MacFarlane is best known for writing, animating and producing the hit TV show Family Guy.

American actor, comedian and television personality Howie Mandel is best known for creating the cartoon series Bobby's World and hosting Deal or No Deal.

Anthony Michael Hall is a film and TV actor known for his roles in Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and The Dead Zone.

Anthony Minghella was an Academy Award-winning director best known for his adaptation of Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient. Released in 1996, the film claimed the Oscar for best picture in 1997.

Ryan Murphy is the creator of the popular American television programs Nip/Tuck, Glee, American Horror Story and The New Normal.

William S. Paley was a businessman who started what would become the CBS television network.

Actor Chazz Palminteri starred opposite Robert De Niro in the 1993 film adaptation of A Bronx Tale, and performed in Woody Allen’s Bullets Over Broadway (1994).

Julia Roberts is an Academy Award-winning actress and one of the top box-office earners in Hollywood, known for such films as Steel Magnolias, Pretty Woman and Erin Brockovich.

American writer and producer Gene Rodenberry created the immensely influential Star Trek television series in the 1960s.

Al Roker is a television personality, a weatherman for NBC's Today show, and a nine-time Emmy winner.

Charlie Rose is an American journalist who hosts the PBS interview show Charlie Rose. He has also held prominent broadcast roles at NBC and CBS.

Journalist Marlene Sanders was both the first woman to anchor a nightly network newscast and the first female field correspondent in the Vietnam War.

Sherwood Schwartz created two of television's most enduring comedies: Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch.

Ryan Seacrest is known for hosting the popular televised competition American Idol, the annual TV special Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve and the radio program American Top 40.

Jerry Seinfeld is an actor and comedian best known for his starring role in the hit television sitcom Seinfeld.

Aaron Spelling remains television’s most prolific producer, primarily known for escapist entertainment.

Brandon Tartikoff was the president of NBC Television during its rise to the top from 1980 till 1991.

During the mid-1980s to early 1990s, actor Alan Thicke played one of television’s most beloved sitcom dads, psychiatrist Jason Seaver on Growing Pains.

Dick Van Dyke is an American actor and comedian best known for hosting The Dick Van Dyke Show. He's also known for starring on Diagnosis Murder and for roles in films like Mary Poppins, Dick Tracy and Night at the Museum.

James Van Praagh has worked as a psychic medium and popular media figure, and is also the bestselling author of the book Talking to Heaven.

Famed television journalist Barbara Walters is best known as the 11-year star of the Today show, and for being the first female co-anchor of a network evening news program.

Billionaire Oprah Winfrey has hosted her own internationally popular talk show since 1986. She is also an actress, philanthropist, publisher, and producer.

Dick Wolf is an Emmy-winning television producer who brought the Law & Order franchise to the small screen.