Brett Ferino
02-05-2003, 04:55 PM
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Veteran Hollywood executive and talent agent Peter Shaw, who co-produced the long-running CBS detective drama "Murder, She Wrote," starring his wife, Angela Lansbury has died at age 84, the family said on Tuesday.
The English-born Shaw, who married the British stage and screen actress in 1949, died Wednesday, Jan. 29 of congestive heart failure after a long illness, the family said in a statement issued by Universal Television.
Shaw, began his entertainment career in the 1930s as a bit actor in such films as "Bride of Frankenstein" before serving in the British Army for several years during World War II.
After the war, he was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, where he met Lansbury, and later worked as an apprentice motion picture agent.
Introduced by actor Hurd Hatfield, a mutual friend, Lansbury and Shaw were married in August 1949, the second marriage for both of them.
Shaw went on to become a leading talent agent in his own right at William Morris, representing such stars as Robert Mitchum, Katharine Hepburn and Marlon Brando
In 1964, he joined MGM as assistant head of production, then returned to William Morris to manage that agency's international business.
In 1987, Shaw launched Corymore Productions at Universal Studios with his two sons, where they co-produced "Murder, She Wrote," starring Lansbury as the middle-aged mystery writer and amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher.
Set in the quaint village of Cabot Cove on the coast of Maine, the show ran for 12 years on CBS. Lansbury reprised her role for a series of TV movies. The most recent one, titled "The Celtic Riddle," is set to air this season on CBS.
Shaw is survived by his wife, sons David and Anthony, daughter Deirdre, and three grandchildren.
The English-born Shaw, who married the British stage and screen actress in 1949, died Wednesday, Jan. 29 of congestive heart failure after a long illness, the family said in a statement issued by Universal Television.
Shaw, began his entertainment career in the 1930s as a bit actor in such films as "Bride of Frankenstein" before serving in the British Army for several years during World War II.
After the war, he was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, where he met Lansbury, and later worked as an apprentice motion picture agent.
Introduced by actor Hurd Hatfield, a mutual friend, Lansbury and Shaw were married in August 1949, the second marriage for both of them.
Shaw went on to become a leading talent agent in his own right at William Morris, representing such stars as Robert Mitchum, Katharine Hepburn and Marlon Brando
In 1964, he joined MGM as assistant head of production, then returned to William Morris to manage that agency's international business.
In 1987, Shaw launched Corymore Productions at Universal Studios with his two sons, where they co-produced "Murder, She Wrote," starring Lansbury as the middle-aged mystery writer and amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher.
Set in the quaint village of Cabot Cove on the coast of Maine, the show ran for 12 years on CBS. Lansbury reprised her role for a series of TV movies. The most recent one, titled "The Celtic Riddle," is set to air this season on CBS.
Shaw is survived by his wife, sons David and Anthony, daughter Deirdre, and three grandchildren.