Quinn Martin

Infobox Person
name = Quinn Martin

|thumb|Quinn Martin
image_size =
caption =
birth_date = May 22, 1922
birth_place = Pennsylvania
death_date = September 5, 1987
death_place = Rancho Santa Fe, California
occupation = Television producer
spouse = Madelyn Pugh (a.k.a. Madelyn Davis); Muffet Webb
children = Michael (with Pugh); Jill, Cliff (with Webb)

Quinn Martin (May 22, 1922 – September 6, 1987 [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= Quinn Martin Is Dead at 65; Produced Popular TV Series |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE1DA1E3BF934A3575AC0A961948260 |quote=Quinn Martin, one of Hollywood's most successful producers of action-adventure series for television, died of a heart attack Saturday at his home in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. He was 65 years old. ... Martin is survived by his wife, Muffet; three children, Jill, Cliff and Michael, and his mother.|publisher=New York Times |date=September 7, 1987 |accessdate=2008-04-01] ), born Irwin Cohn, [http://www.nndb.com/people/302/000057131/ Quinn Martin] at NNDB.] was one of the most successful American television producers. He had at least one program running in prime time for 21 straight years (from 1959 to 1980), an industry record. [http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/M/htmlM/martinquinn/martinquinn.htm Quinn Martin] at the Museum of Broadcast Communications. Note: Aaron Spelling holds the Guinness Book of World Records for Most Prolific TV Drama Producer, having produced more than 3,800 hours of television programming.]

A 1949 graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, Martin started his career in television as a film editor at MGM, but by the mid-1950's had become an executive producer for Desilu Studios. His first wife, Madelyn Pugh Davis, was one half of the writing team behind Desilu's classic, "I Love Lucy". [ [http://www.shemadeit.org/meet/biography.aspx?m=94 Madelyn Pugh Davis] at Museum of Television & Radio.]

In 1960, Martin established his own production company, QM Productions. He sold it in 1978 and worked as an adjunct professor at the University of California, San Diego's Warren College, where he also endowed a chair in drama. [ [http://academicaffairs.ucsd.edu/offices/apo/endowed.htm UCSD Academic Affairs: Endowed Chairs] .] He also established a scholarship for theater arts and communications students at Santa Clara University. [ [http://www.scu.edu/cas/comm/students/awards.cfm Santa Clara University Awards] .]

QM Productions

The eponymously-named QM Productions produced a string of hit television series during the 1960s and 1970s, including "The Fugitive", "Twelve O'Clock High", "The F.B.I.", "The Invaders", "The Streets of San Francisco", "Cannon", and "Barnaby Jones". His series were known for their highly stylized format: a prologue featuring a stern-voice narrator to establish the premise and introduce the cast for that episode; explicitly announced Acts I, II, III, and IV; and an epilogue, again featuring the narrator.

In 1979, a group of investors purchased QM Productions and subsequently sold it to Taft Broadcasting, [ [http://www.waldencapital.com/meetTheTeam.html Martin B. Boorstein profile] at Walden Capital Partners.] which itself has since changed hands, from Worldvision Enterprises to Republic Pictures. Today, Republic and CBS Paramount Television/CBS Studios own ancillary rights to all of QM's library except "Twelve o'Clock High" (owned by 20th Television), "Banyon" and "The F.B.I." (the latter two of which are owned by both the Martin estate and Warner Bros. Television), with CBS Television Distribution handling TV distribution and Paramount Home Entertainment/CBS DVD handling DVD distribution. [ [http://www.tv.com/quinn-martin/person/36633/trivia.html Quinn Martin] at TV.com]

References

Further reading

* Etter, Jonathan. (2003). "Quinn Martin, Producer: A Behind-the-Scenes History of QM Productions and Its Founder". Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc.

External links