George Eckstein was an American writer and television producer whose career spanned three decades, from the early 1960s through the late 1980s. Eckstein was a producer of many popular television programs such as The Invaders

The Invaders

The Invaders, a Quinn Martin Production , is an ABC science fiction television program created by Larry Cohen that ran in the United States for two seasons, from January 10, 1967 to March 26, 1968...

and The Name of the Game

The Name of the Game

"The Name of the Game" is a 1977 song by Swedish pop group ABBA, and was released as the first single from the group's fifth studio album, The Album...

, in addition to penning the scripts of many others, including Gunsmoke

Gunsmoke

Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....

and Cannon

Cannon

A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...

. From the late 1970s onward, the bulk of Eckstein’s producing work was on several made-for-TV movies and specials, with a year’s stint as executive producer of the NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 series Love, Sidney

Love, Sidney

Love, Sidney was an American situation comedy television series about a gay man, Sidney Shorr, and his relationship with a single mother and her five year-old daughter whom he invites to live with him...

in the midst.

Eckstein was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Ruth (née Wexler) and George Eckstein, a salesman. He was married to actress Ann Morgan Guilbert

Ann Morgan Guilbert

Ann Morgan Guilbert , sometimes credited as Ann Guilbert, is an American actress, who played the neighbor Millie Helper in 61 episodes of the early 1960s’ sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show, and later Yetta Rosenberg, Fran Fine’s doddering grandmother, in 56 episodes of the 1990s’ sitcom The Nanny...

 from 1953 until their divorce in 1966, and had two children with her, agent/acting instructor Nora Eckstein and actress Hallie Todd

Hallie Todd

Hallie Todd is an American actress, producer and writer, known for her roles as Penny Waters on Brothers and as Jo McGuire on Lizzie Mcguire.-Personal life:...

. He later remarried actress Selette Cole, and had one daughter, Jennifer. He died of lung cancer

Lung cancer

Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...

 in Brentwood, California

Brentwood, California

Brentwood is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population is 51,481 as of 2010....

.

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