Thursday, December 18, 2014

RIP: STUART ERWIN JR

Stuart Philip Erwin Jr., a development executive at Universal Studios, among other companies, who was instrumental in bringing shows including “Hill Street Blues,” “Remington Steele” and “St. Elsewhere” to television, died on November 22 after a brief illness at his home in Solana Beach, Calif. He was 82.

Erwin had a long, successful career in the entertainment industry, beginning
as an assistant director on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in New York City, running the advertising division at Ralston Purina in St. Louis, then moving on to long stints as a development executive at Universal Studios, MTM Enterprises and GTG Entertainment.

Erwin was born in Los Angeles, the son of actors Stuart Erwin (1903-1967) and June Collyer (1906-1968). His parents were married for thirty six years. When his father died of a sudden heart attack in 1967, his mother never recovered, and she died of pneumonia a few months later.

After attending Brown University, Stuart Jr served as a lieutenant in the Navy.

During his retirement he remained very active at Brown University and was always a big supporter of the arts.

Stuart Erwin Jr was married to actress Julie Sommars from 1971-1980.

He is survived by his 3rd wife, Diane; his five children; and his six grandchildren. He is also survived by a younger sister Judy Erwin...



4 comments:

  1. Stuart's sister, Judy died many years ago.

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  2. When and how did Judy Erwin die? Just curious.

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  3. I saw his father (Stuart Irwin) first in 1932's "Hold Your Man" Staring Clark Gable and Jean Harlow, and I immediately decided I liked Stuart a lot as he came through as a very honest kind soul, through his characters he portrayed believable best buddies or the friendly guy next door. I believe Stuart would of been successful at whatever career he chose.I just recently looked him up on WIKI and found out he had a son and daughter with June Collyer, the son being mentioned in this article.

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  4. His father played a role in a Perry Mason episode as Clem Sandy Sanderson where he was an accountant who stole a little bit at a time and he was proud of doing it but nobody believed he was capable of doing it. Awesome acting one of the best Perry Mason episodes of all time.

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