The_Hollywood_Reporter__February_07_2018

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James H. Rich, Jr., age 70, of Tarzana, CA, died peacefully
from the complications of cancer on January 20,
2018 with his loving and devoted wife of almost 44
years, Abigail Crow Rich, by his side.
Jim was born in Pittsburgh, PA, on December 24, 1947,
to James H. Rich and the late Idamae Brody Rich. The
date of his birth, he would tell everyone, was the result
of his mother falling off a ladder while trying to put a
star on the Christmas tree.
He attended an all-boys prep school, Shadyside Academy,
where, among other activities, he was a member
of the honorary Sargon Society,
and played on the varsity tennis
and football teams. Summers
he hung out at WAMO,
his father’s radio station. After
graduation in 1965, he went to
Syracuse University to study
Communications, where he
lived in the football dorm and
thought he was going to play
until he was positioned in front
of Larry Csonka and Floyd Little
at a practice game and was
flattened.
Always resilient and practical,
he looked around and realized
that not only was it safer
to go into the theater department,
but there were real-live
girls there. And so his show
business career was born.
He transferred to New York
University’s Film School, where
Martin Scorsese was his instructor, and where he created
his award-winning student film, Ginkgo. After
film school, he worked on Sesame Street shorts, commercials,
and industrials in New York, and created his
documentary Earth Day, starring Rod Serling and Pete
Seeger.
In the mid-1970s, he headed to Los Angeles to work
for Bob Stivers Productions and began a career that
spanned almost 50 years. As he advanced from young
production manager to executive producer, he worked
on hundreds of television shows, including Circus of the
Stars, People’s Choice Awards, People’s Court, Superior
Court, Vincent with Leonard Nimoy, John Denver and
the Muppets, Kid Songs, Monty Python Live at the Hollywood
Bowl, Red Skelton’s Funny Faces, George Burns
in Concert, Enchanted Musical Playhouse with the Osmonds,
Straight to the Heart, A Talent for Murder with
Sir Lawrence Olivier and Angela Lansbury and many,
many others.
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James H. Rich
1947-2018
Jim was a member of the Producers Guild of America.
He was the executive vice president of Cable and Syndication
at Centerpoint Productions, where he worked
for Tom Tannenbaum with production partners Guber-
Peters, Blake Edwards, and Grasso-Jacobson. He won
an ACE award in 1983 for Sweeney Todd, which won
seven Emmys. In the early 2000s, he produced three
two-hour specials to promote the opening of Universal’s
theme park in Osaka. The specials featured top
Japanese television stars and Universal stars Meryl
Streep, Gene Hackman and Steven Spielberg.
After retiring, he co-founded
The Great Beer Company,
brewers of the award-winning
kölsch-style ale, Hollywood
Blonde. He was a practicing
Buddhist, worked on the campaign
to elect Obama, and volunteered
with an organization
for troubled teens.
Jim loved many things, not
the least of which was walking
the dogs at his beach house
in Ventura, CA, watching
Pittsburgh Steeler games, going
to the symphony and the
Hollywood Bowl with his wife,
talking to his father, and bragging
about his children and
grandchildren.
His life was marked by an
electric spirit, an extraordinary
ability to persevere, a goofy
sense of humor, a quest for
spiritual knowledge, and a generous soul. He is remembered
by friends and admirers as someone who lifted
them up when they needed it, and encouraged them to
be their best and truest selves.
In addition to his wife, Jim is survived by his father,
James H. Rich, of Pittsburgh, PA; his son, Nicholas
James Rich, and daughter-in-law, Cara Delizia Rich of
Tarzana, CA; his daughter, Kit Rich, of Santa Monica, CA;
three grandsons, Hunter Rich, Lucas Rich, and Crosby
Rich; his sister, Kathryn Rich Sherman of Pittsburgh,
PA; and numerous brothers/sisters-in-law, nieces,
nephews and cousins.
His memorial will be held in Tarzana, CA on March 3,
2018 from noon to 4:00. Family members will commit
his ashes to the sea the following day.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to his favorite charity,
“No Kid Hungry,” (https://www.nokidhungry.org/)
the campaign of the national anti-hunger organization
Share Our Strength.