Ted Mann has died. The Emmy-winning TV writer and producer, best known for his contributions to NYPD Blue, Deadwood, and Homeland, died from complications from lung cancer in Los Angeles on September 4, Variety confirmed through Mann’s daughter, Elizabeth. He was 72.
Born in Canada, Mann’s career began at National Lampoon. Arriving at the magazine shortly after its heyday, Mann was part of the second generation of Lampoon misfits, working alongside John Hughes, Bruce McCall, Tony Hendra, Jeff Greenfield, and editor-in-chief P.J. O’Rourke. His editorship at Lampoon made for an easy transition to television because Mann’s first job was adapting the magazine’s screen debut, the smash-hit Animal House, to TV. The spin-off, Delta House, lasted only a season, but it led him to the National Lampoon TV special, Disco Beaver From Outer Space. In the mid-80s, he wrote the screenplay to the Robert Altman film O.C. And Stiggs and episodes of Slimer! And The Real Ghostbusters and Miami Vice.
Though his career started in comedy, Mann found most success in drama. A turning point came as a producer on the undercover cop show, Wiseguy, produced by Hill Street Blues creator Stephen Bochco. Bochco hired Mann to produce the short-lived series Civil War before bringing him onto NYPD Blue in 1993. The show was a landmark drama for the time, earning Mann an Emmy in 1995 for Outstanding Drama Series. It also introduced Mann to David Milch. Mann would work with Milch again on the quickly canceled Brooklyn South in 1998. Six years later, Milch hired Mann for Deadwood, where he wrote several season finales, including “Sold Under Sin,” “Boy-The-Earth-Talks-To,” and the series finale, “Tell Him Something Pretty.” He also appeared on camera as the character Rutherford, whose specialty was “overturning turtles.” Following Deadwood, he worked on Milch’s John From Cincinnati as well as the Crash TV series, the Hatfields & McCoys miniseries, and Homeland, which netted him his final Emmy nomination.
Mann is survived by his wife, Bly, three children, two siblings, and three grandchildren.
