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The TV studio Desilu was founded in 1950 by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, which you can probably tell by the name. The famous performing couple initially pitched a TV adaptation of the marriage-based radio sitcom "My Favorite Husband" to the execs at CBS, but that show eventually mutated into "I Love Lucy," more explicitly sold as a vehicle for Ball. To this day, "I Love Lucy" remains one of the most popular sitcoms of all time, and every modern comedy show contains traces of its DNA. The series ran for 180 episodes over six seasons, ending its run in 1957. Lucy and Desi divorced a few years later, and Ball became the sole owner of Desilu.

Desilu oversaw a wide spectrum of shows, from sitcoms like "Our Miss Brooks" and variety shows like "Shower of Stars," but also Westerns like "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" and adventure programs like "Whirlybirds.

Actor Robert Blake, a man with a long and complex legacy, has died, a representative for his son-in-law Gregg Hurwitz confirmed to Variety. The former child actor was best known for his Emmy-winning role as the cockatoo-owning undercover cop in the popular 1970s TV series “Baretta” and, more infamously, for his trial following the 2001 murder of his wife. He was 89.

As reported by the Associated Press, Blake died from heart disease on Thursday at his home in Los Angeles.

These two aspects of Blake’s legacy were inseparable in some ways, and the personal turmoil that made the latter at least circumstantially plausible (the case against Blake hinged on motive — he may have wanted to be free of his rocky marriage) fueled his acting.

Blake was acquitted of the murder charge, as well as of one count of soliciting murder, in his criminal trial in 2005, but in a civil trial later that year,...

Burt Metcalfe, the revered TV producer who worked on all 11 seasons of “Mash,” died July 27 in Los Angeles. He was 87.

Metcalfe was an actor turned director-producer who was recruited to work on “Mash” by director Gene Reynolds, who launched the series adaptation of Robert Altman’s 1970 black comedy released by 20th Century Fox. Metcalfe started out as an associate producer and rose to showrunner for the show’s final six seasons. He also directed 31 episodes of the series’ 251 installments.

Reynolds, who was with “Mash” through the 1976-77 season before moving on to the helm of CBS’ “Lou Grant,” died at age 96 in February 2020.

The CBS series adaptation defied low expectations for movie adaptations and became pop culture touchstone of the 1970s and early ’80s. Set during the Korean War, Alan Alda starred as Col. Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce, a cynical surgeon with a heart of gold who helped run a mobile...

Lynn Stalmaster, the legendary casting director who worked on nearly 200 movies ranging from “West Side Story” to “Harold and Maude” to “Tootsie,” has died. He was 93.

Stalmaster died Friday morning in Los Angeles, Casting Society of America executive Laura Adler confirmed.

Stalmaster was a pioneer as an independent casting director who worked on a freelance basis. He was renowned for his skill in spotting new talent and matching actors to the perfect roles. He was also a champion for elevating the status of casting directors in the industry. In 2016, he became the first casting professional to be honored with an Oscar when he received a Governors Award tribute from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

“A pioneer of our craft, Lynn was a trailblazer with over half a century of world-class film and television casting credits. He was a friend and mentor to many of us,” Casting Society of...

Lucille Desiree Ball

Born: Aug. 6, 1911 in Celeron, N.Y.

Died: April 26, 1989 in Los Angeles

Best known for: CBS comedy series “I Love Lucy” (1951-1957), “The Lucy Show” (1962-68), “Here’s Lucy” (1968-74). As Variety‘s Tom Gilbert observed after her death, “Ball’s elastic facial expressions and precise comic timing catapulted her into an American institution.”

Autobiography: “Love, Lucy,” published posthumously in 1996, from a memoir Ball wrote in the mid-1960s.

Awards: Emmy wins for lead comedy actress in 1953, 1956, 1967 and 1968. Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.‘s Cecil B. DeMille Award, 1979. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Governors Award, 1989

Behind the scenes impact: With her husband and “I Love Lucy” co-star Desi Arnaz, Ball was a TV pioneer who etched an enduring template for TV sitcoms shot on film, which ignited the syndication marketplace for TV. Known for her signature flame-red hair color, Ball was also the first woman to head a major TV studio,...

Craig Hill, who played P.T. Moore, the co-owner of a helicopter chartering company, in the 1950s syndicated TV adventure series Whirlybirds, died Monday, the Spanish newspaper Ara reported. He was 88. Hill, who also appeared as the prison-bound first-time offender at the beginning of the Kirk Douglas cop classic Detective Story (1951), died in Barcelona, family members told the newspaper. He had lived in Spain for decades. Whirlybirds, from Desilu Productions, aired for three seasons and 111 half-hour episodes, from February 1957 to January 1960. Moore and his partner, Chuck Martin (Kenneth Tobey), flew Bell

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He had the talking horse. Now all Alan Young had to do was find the right woman to play his wife on television's "Mr. Ed." It was a task made simple, the veteran actor said Thursday, the moment he met a young actress named Connie Hines who had moved to Hollywood just two years before and had only a handful of TV appearances on her resume."I was one of the people in the room when we were auditioning for the part," Young, 90, told The Associated Press. "When Connie Hines walked in, we all just looked at each other before she even started speaking and said, 'This is the girl.' She just exuded something . fresh air, I guess you could call it . that we knew would make her perfect for the part."Hines, who died a week ago at age 78, went on to...