Producer/Writer Chris Thompson 1952-2015

[Zoneboy]

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Veteran TV writer and producer Chris Thompson has died. Thompson, creator of the Disney Channel series Shake It Up! and Action, died Friday night after a long illness. Shake It Up! stars Zendaya and Bella Thorne shared the photo above on Instagram. Various bios say he was born in 1952 but did not specify a birth date.

What Thompson thought was going to be his big acting break came when he was 23 and a producer approached him after seeing his improv performance at L.A.’s Off The Wall theater. Instead, it was the start of a long writing career that began on the series Sirota’s Court. He later went to work for producer Garry Marshall on Blansky’s Beauties with Nancy Walker and Scott Baio. That let to a seven-year stint writing and later executive producing Laverne & Shirley.

Thompson’s numerous credits also include the series Ladies Man, The Naked Truth, House Rules, The Larry Sanders Show, and Bosom Buddies as well as several TV movies including Big Deals, Lola, Slickers and the features Jumpin’ Jack Flash and Back To The Beach.