Jerry Katzman, the television-packaging pioneer who served as president of William Morris in the 1990s, died Sunday at his home in Los Angeles from Parkinson’s disease, a family spokesperson announced. He was 89.
Katzman joined WMA in 1972 and rose from business affairs to become head of worldwide television, where he assembled creative talent and key elements of TV series including The Cosby Show, Roseanne, Murphy Brown, Murder, She Wrote and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
His clients included Burt Reynolds, Angela Lansbury and Shelley Long.
Katzman was named agency president in 1991 and then vice chairman in 1997 before he left in 2002. He then joined the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television as a member of the faculty in its Producers Program and served as a consultant for such companies as Anonymous Content.
He also was president of the Hollywood Radio & Television Society.
