Emmy-winning television writer and producer Ted Mann worked in both “Deadwood” and “NYPD Blue” abilities and passed away in Los Angeles on September 4th. He was 72 years old.
His daughter Elizabeth reported that she died after a fight with lung cancer.
Born in Canada, Mann began his career as an editor for National Lampoon in the 1970s, and eventually moved to the label’s television project as a writer for television special “Disco Beaver from Space” and the short-lived “Animal House” spinoff “Delta House.” In the 1980s he wrote the script for Robert Altman’s “OC and Stigs.” This was based on his national Lampoon character. He then began writing crime television with episodes like “The Street,” “WiseGuy,” and “Miami Vice.”
He also wrote for the Saturday morning manga “Ghostbusters,” “Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters,” and wrote the screenplay for the 1996 feature satire, “Space Truck Driver.”
In 1993 he began working with David Milch and Steven Bochco on ABC’s “NYPD Blue” as a writer-producer. He was nominated for two Emmy Awards for his first season of work, and returned to the second season to be the party for the team that won an Emmy Award for Best Drama Series. Mann stopped production of the show after season 2, but returned to write additional episodes throughout the 12 seasons of run.
Mann and Milch reunited in 2004, and Milch created HBO’s “Deadwood,” with Mann serving as writers in their first season. While continuing to write, Mann began making “Deadwood” in Season 2, winning a WGA award for his most dramatic series. He remained as a writer producer throughout the show’s third and final seasons.
He wrote and produced again for HBO’s “John of Cincinnati” on Milch, and co-produced “Crash” on Starz. His other writing and production credits include the show “Millennium,” “Brooklyn South,” “Total Recall 2070,” “Andromeda,” and the history channel miniseries “Hatfield and McCoys.” In 2015 and 2016, he wrote three episodes of “Hometown” and served as a consulting producer on the show.
He was survived by his wife, Brie and his three children. Elizabeth Mann (Michael Wallace), Lucy Buhold (Felix), and James Mann (Blair). brothers Bein Mann (Deborah Nolan) and Tisch Scott (Michael) and their children and grandchildren Virginia Wallace, Graham Wallace and Magnus Buhold;
