Television
March 23, 2007
Veteran Television Executive Art Stolnitz Died Wednesday, March 21
(March 23, 2007 - Burbank, CA) — Former Warner Bros. Entertainment executive Art Stolnitz died at 11:50 p.m. on Wednesday, March 21, 2007, at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., from complications of a stroke. He was 79 years of age. He was preceded in death by his wife of 42 years, Suzanne, on December 23, 2006, from complications due to lung cancer.
Funeral services will be held Monday, March 26, at 12:00 Noon at Mount Sinai Hollywood Hills, 5950 Forest Lawn Drive, in Los Angeles. A reception will follow at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, Calif. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Art Stolnitz Law Scholarship Fund may be sent to Office of Development, University of Tennessee, 600 Andy Holt Tower, Knoxville, TN 37997.
Stolnitz enjoyed a distinguished 45-year career in the entertainment industry, spending more than 30 years at Warner Bros. Entertainment. Stolnitz joined the company in 1977, and held a number of business affairs positions at both Warner Bros. Television and Lorimar Television, ultimately serving as Executive Vice President, Business Affairs, Warner Bros. Television. He retired in 1996 and continued to serve as a consultant to the Studio until June 1998. During his tenure, he was the Studio’s chief business affairs executive on the series “The Dukes of Hazzard,” “Murphy Brown,” “China Beach” and “Night Court,” among many others.
A native of Rochester, New York, Stolnitz studied at the University of Missouri and earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1952. For more than 50 years, Stolnitz remained deeply involved and committed to the College of Law, supporting the school generously with both time and treasure. He served on the university’s Development Council, as well as the school’s Theater National Advisory Board and the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee. In 2001, the law library in the UT legal clinic was dedicated in his honor and renamed the Art Stolnitz Legal Clinic Library.
He began his showbiz career in 1952 at the William Morris Agency. After working for six years in the agency’s legal department, he branched out into creative areas of both film and television production. At ZIV-UA Television, he was Director of New Program Development, and from there, he became a literary agent for MCA. From 1963 to 1970, he was involved with seven television series and six theatrical motion pictures at Selmur Productions and several more theatrical features at ABC Pictures, both wholly owned divisions of ABC.
Stolnitz was then appointed Executive Vice President at Metromedia Producers Corporation, where he served for four years before becoming a producer as well as Executive Vice President at Charles Fries Productions, where he was involved in all aspects of the company’s activities. He was a producer for Edgar J. Scherick Productions and went on to produce the NBC primetime series “The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams” for Sunn Classic Pictures.
He was a production executive on “Bat Masterson” and “Highway Patrol,” and as a business executive, he worked on “Combat,” “General Hospital” and “Young Marrieds.” Stolnitz was co-creator and production executive on “Shindig.” While at ABC, he was the production representative on the feature motion picture “Candy” and at Metro Media on the feature “Catch My Soul.” He served as business executive on the “Cousteau Special” and produced three two-hour telefilms: “Secret Night Caller,” “Foster & Laurie” and “Call of the Wild.”
A resident of Palm Desert, Calif., Stolnitz is survived by a brother, Herb, of Cathedral City, Calif.; a son, Dr. Scott Stolnitz of Marina Del Rey, Calif., Scott’s wife, Cindy, and daughter, Skye, Art’s beloved granddaughter, who hopes to continue the Stolnitz legacy as she pursues a career in production at Warner Bros.
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