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Veteran TV Producer Dies at 68

Jan 7, 2014  •  Post A Comment

A former Showtime executive who started at as a page at NBC on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” veteran TV producer Dennis Johnson died Dec. 23 while vacationing in the French West Indies, reports Deadline.com. He was 68.

Johnson suffered a heart attack while on vacation in Gustavia, Saint Barthelemy, French West Indies. He died at a hospital in Gustavia, his longtime partner, Russ Patrick, said.

After working as a page, Johnson became director of comedy and variety programs at NBC, then vice president of programming at ABC. He next moved to Osmond Television, working for the Osmond family.

“Eventually, he became SVP of Programming at Showtime, where he established the Black Filmmakers Program. He was president of the National Association of Minorities in Cable (NAMIC) and served on the Board of the Special Olympics,” the story reports.

He later served as a producer in features, including the 2008 release “Hope & Redemption: The Lena Baker Story.”

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