Matthew Rapf

Screenwriter-turned-producer who made his feature film debut writing and directing "Adventures of Gallant Bess" in 1948. Rapf then joined the ranks as an associate producer at MGM and produced "The Sellout" (1951), "Desperate Search" (1952) and "The Big Leaguer" (1953) before turning exclusively to TV production. As producer mainly for Columbia Pictures TV and Universal TV, Rapf made the popular series "The Loretta Young Show," "The Great Gildersleeve" and "Doctors: Private Lives" and also executive produced "The Iron Horse," "Doctors' Hospital," "Switch" and "Gangster Chronicles." In 1973 Rapf produced the acclaimed made-for-TV police movie, "The Nelson-Marcus Murders" which was the pilot for the long-running series, "Kojak," which he executive produced.