Dan Curtis

Daniel Mayer Cherkoss August 12 1927 March 27 2006 known by his pen name Dan Curtis was an American director and producer of television and film best known for creating the horror soap Dark Shadows Dark Shadows ran from 1966 to 1971 for a recordsetting 1225 episodes Curtis also produced the 1991 revival which was canceled after twelve episodes due to low ratings He also served as executive producer for a WB reboot however it was canceled before the pilot episode aired His series of macabre films include The Night Stalker which inspired the series Kolchak The Night Stalker Intruders The Night Strangler House of Dark Shadows Night of Dark Shadows Burnt Offerings Trilogy of Terror The Norliss Tapes a 1973 pilot for an unproduced series starring Roy Thinnes Curse of the Black Widow Dead of Night Scream of the Wolf and others He worked frequently with scifihorror writer Richard Matheson Curtis was producer andor director of a number of television adaptations of horrorrelated productions including Dracula Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde The Picture of Dorian Gray and Turn of the Screw all made between 1968 and 1975 In 1978 Curtis made a departure from his usual macabre offerings when he wrote produced and directed the sentimental NBC television film When Every Day Was the Fourth of July Although fictionalized the film was semiautobiographical based on his childhood growing up in 1930s Bridgeport The film was originally intended to be a pilot for a potential series but when the series was not picked up by NBC Curtis made a sequel The Long Days of Summer this time airing on ABC In 1983 Curtis directed the epic sevenpart miniseries The Winds of War based on Herman Wouks 1971 novel of the same name about the lives of the fictional Henry and Jastrow families as they intersect with the major global events of the early years of World War II It won three Primetime Emmys of 13 nominations and was nominated for four Golden Globes including Best Miniseries or Television Film The success spawned a 1988 sequel miniseries War and Remembrance also based on a novel by Wouk Curtis died of a brain tumor in his home on March 27 2006 two weeks after the death of his wife Norma Curtis rights to Dark Shadows remain with his estate who have signed a deal with Warner Bros for a new Dark Shadows film which released in March 2012 to mixed reviews Description above from the Wikipedia article Dan Curtis licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia