E. Duke Vincent, an Emmy-winning TV producer, died on Feb. 10 in Montecito, Calif. He was 91.
With Aaron Spelling, the duo worked on 43 TV series, such as “Dynasty,” “Hotel,” “Vegas,” “Matt Houston,” “The Colbys,” “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Melrose Place,” in addition to seven miniseries including Jackie Collins’ “Hollywood Wives” and James Micheners’ “Texas.” They also hold 39 TV movie credits, including Emmy winners “Day One” and “And the Band Played On.”
Additionally, Duke and Spelling served as executive producers on Warner Bros. Network’s long-running series “Charmed” and “7th Heaven,” the network’s highest rated and longest running drama. Duke wrote or produced over 2,300 hours of programming over the course of his 40-year career in Hollywood, with 1,600 hours of primetime and 750 hours of daytime TV.
The only child of Margaret and Egizio Ventimiglia, he was born Edward Ventimiglia in Jersey City, N.J. on April 30, 1932. After graduating from Seton Hall University, he joined the Navy as a Naval aviator. In 1960, he fulfilled his dream of joining the Blue Angels for the 60-61 seasons. Vincent resigned from the Navy in 1962 and then moved to New York, where he got a job at RKO General and Seven Arts to write and produce seven one-hour documentaries called “Man In Space.”
While filming for the series in Los Angeles, Vincent met Danny Thomas and Sheldon Leonard, the executive producers of “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” He wrote a spec script for them and then signed on to do their next TV series “Good Morning World.” The next year, he became the producer and head writer of “Gomer Pyle” and then “The Jim Nabors Hour,” “Arnie” and “The Little People.” He also wrote and produced two TV films, “Panache” and “The Imposter.” This was prior to meeting Spelling, who was Vincent’s partner from 1978 until Spelling’s death in 2006.
At the time of his retirement, his titles were executive producer and vice chairman of Spelling Television. He wrote four novels — “Mafia Summer,” “Black Widow,” “The Strip” and “The Camelot Conspiracy” — after retiring.
He is survived by his wife Pamela Hensley Vincent.
