I learned this morning from members of his family that my old frenemy Glen Larson, creator of dozens of classic television series, bon vivant, and, in the words of one of my agents, “evil genius,” died yesterday.
Glen was a complex and, to those of us who spent a lot of time with him, fascinating man. Multi-talented in the true sense of the word, he was a member of the Big Deal early ’60s pop singing group The Four Preps who turned from singing to writing and became the creator (or co-creator), writer-producer of more long-running hit shows than anyone else in the world, before, during or since. We’re talking Alias Smith and Jones, Switch, Quincy, M.E., The Hardy Boys Mysteries, Battlestar Galactica, B. J. and the Bear, The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo, Magnum, P.I., The Fall Guy, Knight Rider, Manimal, Automan, and a passel of others.
I worked with Glen on many of those shows, and the experience was colorful, to say the least. In fact, often it was truly mind-gobbling. Glen was a very controversial figure in his prime, punched by James Garner, sued by several others, richer than Croesus and possibly the unhappiest man I’ve ever known.
