Dan Curtis

Daniel Mayer Cherkoss (August 12, 1927 – March 27, 2006), known by his pen name Dan Curtis, was an American director and producer of television and film, best known for creating the horror soap Dark Shadows. Dark Shadows ran from 1966 to 1971 for a record-setting 1,225 episodes. Curtis also produced the 1991 revival, which was canceled after twelve episodes due to low ratings. He also served as executive producer for a WB reboot; however, it was canceled before the pilot episode aired. His series of macabre films include The Night Stalker (which inspired the series Kolchak: The Night Stalker), Intruders, The Night Strangler, House of Dark Shadows, Night of Dark Shadows, Burnt Offerings, Trilogy of Terror, The Norliss Tapes (a 1973 pilot for an unproduced series starring Roy Thinnes), Curse of the Black Widow, Dead of Night, Scream of the Wolf, and others. He worked frequently with sci-fi/horror writer Richard Matheson. Curtis was producer and/or director of a number of television adaptations of horror-related productions including Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Turn of the Screw, all made between 1968 and 1975. In 1978, Curtis made a departure from his usual macabre offerings, when he wrote, produced, and directed the sentimental NBC television film When Every Day Was the Fourth of July. Although fictionalized, the film was semi-autobiographical, based on his childhood growing up in 1930s Bridgeport. The film was originally intended to be a pilot for a potential series, but when the series was not picked up by NBC, Curtis made a sequel, The Long Days of Summer, this time airing on ABC. In 1983, Curtis directed the epic seven-part miniseries The Winds of War, based on Herman Wouk's 1971 novel of the same name about the lives of the fictional Henry and Jastrow families as they intersect with the major global events of the early years of World War II. It won three Primetime Emmys (of 13 nominations) and was nominated for four Golden Globes, including Best Miniseries or Television Film. The success spawned a 1988 sequel miniseries, War and Remembrance, also based on a novel by Wouk. Curtis died of a brain tumor in his home on March 27, 2006, two weeks after the death of his wife Norma. Curtis' rights to Dark Shadows remain with his estate, who have signed a deal with Warner Bros. for a new Dark Shadows film, which released in March 2012 to mixed reviews. Description above from the Wikipedia article Dan Curtis, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia

R. Daniel Curtis, gebürtig Daniel Mayer Cherkoss, genannt Dan (* 12. August 1928 in Bridgeport, Connecticut; † 27. März 2006 in Brentwood, Kalifornien) war ein US-amerikanischer Filmregisseur und Film- und Fernsehproduzent. Bekannt wurde Curtis mit der Fernsehabendserie Dark Shadows, welche von 1966 bis 1971 original ausgestrahlt und danach mehrfach wiederholt wurde. Zu seinen bekannteren Filmen zählen Die Geschichte des Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (1968) und Dracula (1973), in denen jeweils Jack Palance die Titelrolle übernahm, sowie The Night Stalker (aus dem die Serie Kolchak: The Night Stalker entstand), Intruders, The Night Strangler, House of Dark Shadows, Night of Dark Shadows, Burnt Offerings, Trilogy of Terror und weiters der preisgekrönte Fernsehfilm Der letzte Coup der Dalton Gang, ebenfalls mit Jack Palance. Seine Miniserie The Winds of War nach dem Buch von Herman Wouk wurde für vier Emmy Awards nominiert. 1988 erhielt er schließlich einen Emmy für seine Fernsehminiserie Feuersturm und Asche. Curtis' Ehefrau Norma Mae (geb. Klein) starb am 7. März 2006 an einem Herzschlag mit 75 Jahren. Sie waren seit 1952 verheiratet und hatten drei Töchter: Cathy, Tracy und Linda, die noch vor ihrer Mutter starb. 20 Tage später starb Curtis selbst.