Richard S. Reisberg, Top Television Executive at Viacom and MGM/UA, Dies at 85

Richard S. Reisberg, a top television executive for Viacom, MGM/United Artists, Reeves Entertainment and Lionsgate, died Wednesday at his home in Woodland Hills after a battle with Alzheimer’s, his family announced. He was 85.

During his career, Reisberg oversaw a wide range of programming, and he served as an executive producer on the acclaimed 1980 NBC telefilm Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb and on the John Larroquette-starring 1999 CBS sitcom Payne, a remake of the British classic Fawlty Towers.

Starting in 2001, Reisberg served for years as a mediator at the arbitration-mediation service JAMS, where “he brought a clear and objective approach to resolving disputes and a gift for bringing people together,” his family noted. “He loved finding common ground, and he had a way of helping others find it, too.”

He also taught mediation at the Pepperdine School of Law for more than 15 years.

Born in the Bronx on May 24, 1941, Reisberg attended high school in Long Beach on Long Island, then earned his bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and his law degree — taking classes at night — from Fordham University.

He started out in the broadcast department at the advertising agency J. Walter Thompson in New York before working in business affairs at ABC, CBS, NBC and then Viacom International, where he became senior vp.

The company sent him to Los Angeles in 1972, and he served as president of Viacom Productions from 1978-81.

He left to become president of United Artists Television, then headed the merged MGM/UA Television Productions — then the home to such shows as CHiPs and Fame — through 1985. He was president and COO of Reeves Entertainment from 1985-94 and then president of Lionsgate Television before launching a consulting company.

Survivors include his wife of nearly 57 years, Judy; his daughters, Jennifer and Stephanie; his son-in-law, Justin; and his grandchildren, Oliver, Tyler, Ella and Layla.

“Away from work, Richard was happiest with a fly rod in hand, finding peace on the water or in the kitchen serving up family favorites like his chili and linguine with clams,” his family said. “But nothing mattered more to him than his family, and his love for them was limitless.”

Donations in his memory may be made to Alzheimer’s Los Angeles.