Herman Rush, a veteran television producer best known for licensing Till Death Us Do Part, the UK sitcom that Norman Lear turned into All in the Family, died Dec. 12 at 94 of natural causes in Los Angeles, according to several news reports.
Rush began his career in 1951, working in sales for Official Film. He later purchased Flamingo Films, a television syndication firm, growing it into a major independent syndication company.
Up into the 1970s, Rush was with Creative Management Associates as the president of the television division, playing a role in the agency’s entry into television packaging. Some of the shows he was placed on networks included The Perry Como Show, The Jackie Gleason Show, The Kraft Music Hall and The Hollywood Palace.
H also represented producer Irwin Allen for TV hits Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost In Space, The Time Tunnel, and Land of the Giants.
In the late ’60s, Rush acquired properties from Britisher Lord Lew Grade. One of them was the popular sitcom Till Death Us Do Part, which was later shopped to Norman Lear, who turned it into All in the Family.
In 1980, he was named president of Columbia Pictures Television Group, putting more than a dozen series on air, including Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Mike Hammer and Designing Women.
He also created Katz/Rush Entertainment with Raymond Katz, which produced The New Original Amateur Hour, The Susan Powter Show, Miss America: Behind The Crown and Nite Cap.
Rush is survived by children Mandie and Jim.