Sam Strangis, the Emmy-nominated producer, director and studio executive who worked on the film Batman, The Six Million Dollar Man AND CSI: Crime Scene Investigation during his fifty-year career, he died. He was 95 years old.
Strangis died July 23 of kidney failure at Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center in Torrance, California, a family spokesperson announced.
As head of production at Paramount Studios starting in the late 1960s, Strangis directed such memorable series as Mannix, The Odd Couple, Happy days, Laverne and Shirley, The Brady Bunch, Love, American style AND Mission: impossible.
With then-producing partner Don Boyle, he left Paramount in 1974 to produce ABC's new film The Six Million Dollar Manwith Lee Majors, for Universal Television. He later worked on telefilms before returning to Paramount as vice president of television production.
He would leave the studio again, this time to launch Ten-Four Productions, an independent production company that made TV movies like 1978. Rainbow (Judy Garland's story as a young star), 1991 Reason to Live: The Jill Ireland Story and 1993 The Rainbow Warrior.
Strangis finished his career producing the CBS series CSI: Crime scene investigation during its first two seasons (2000-2002) and the spin-off CSI: Miami during its first season (2002-2003). In 2002, he shared an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Drama Series for the flagship.
Born June 19, 1929 in Tacoma, Washington, he began his career as a script supervisor at Revue Studios. This led to him directing episodes of the NBC series from 1957-59 The restless guna post-Civil War western starring John Payne.
After working as a production manager and directing nine episodes of ABC's third season Batman from 1966 to 1968 – he also worked on the 1966 film – he began his first stint at Paramount.
Survivors include his wife, Bonnie (they married in 1968); daughter Debi; sons Gary, a producer (The practice) and Greg, writer and producer (Eight is enough, Hawk crest); sisters Judy (an actress) and Cindy; five grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.
Services were held Aug. 22 at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church in Brentwood.