Leonard Katzman (September 2, 1927 – September 5, 1996) was an American film and television producer, writer and director. He was most notable for being the showrunner of the CBS prime time oil soap opera Dallas.[1]
In 1978, Katzman served as producer for the five-part miniseriesDallas, which would evolve into one of television's longest-running dramas until 1991. While David Jacobs created the series, Katzman became the de facto showrunner during the second season, as Jacobs stepped down to create and later run the Dallas spin-off series Knots Landing. Under Katzman's lead, Dallas, whose first episodes had consisted of self-contained stories, evolved into a serial, leading into the '80s trend of prime-timesoap operas..[2]
While Katzman headed Dallas' writing staff from the show's second season, he remained producer, with Philip Capice serving as executive producer. The creative conflicts between Capice and Katzman eventually led to Katzman stepping down from his production duties on the show for season nine, instead being billed as a "creative consultant" (during this time, he also worked on the short-lived drama series Our Family Honor). However, increased production costs[2] and decreasing ratings[3] caused production company Lorimar—along with series star Larry Hagman (J. R. Ewing)[4]—to ask Katzman to return to the show in his old capacity. Katzman agreed, reportedly under the condition that he would have "total authority" on the show,[2] and as of the tenth season premiere, he was promoted to executive producer, and Capice was let go.
Katzman remained as executive producer on Dallas until the series finale in May 1991. Besides his production work, he also wrote and directed more series episodes than anyone else.
After Dallas
Following "Dallas", Katzman went on to create the short-lived crime drama Dangerous Curves (1992-1993), which aired as a part of CBS' late-night drama block Crimetime After Primetime, and serve as executive producer for the second season of the action dramaWalker, Texas Ranger (1994-1995). His last work was the 1996 "Dallas" reunion movie J.R. Returns, which he also wrote and directed.
Personal life and death
Katzman fathered his first child, Gary Katzman, with Eileen Leener (1929-2019).[5] Katzman did not raise his first child and left his mother when he was four years old. The child was eventually adopted and took the surname Klein. Through Gary Klein, Katzman is the biological grandfather of Israeli-American internet personality Ethan Klein of the YouTube comedy podcast H3 Podcast.[6]
Leonard Katzman and his wife LaRue Farlow Katzman [7] had three children. His daughter, actress Sherril Lynn Rettino (1956-1995), predeceased her father by one year. She played the recurring character Jackie Dugan in Dallas from 1979 to 91. His sons Mitchell Wayne Katzman and Frank Katzman, and son-in-law John Rettino all worked on the production of Dallas' later seasons. Both sons were also involved producing Dangerous Curves,Walker, Texas Ranger, and J. R. Returns.
