Talent

Talent Name
Leonard Goldberg

June 2018

Leonard Goldberg has long been considered one of the entertainment industry’s most talented, successful and creative executives and producers of feature films, television series and television movies. Based on his accomplishments in television, Goldberg was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in 2007. Presently, he serves on the board of directors of the CBS Corporation.

A graduate of the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce, Goldberg began his broadcasting career with ABC’s research department. He moved over to NBC one year later, advancing to the position of Supervisor of Special Projects. He then joined Batten, Barton, Durstine, Osborne Advertising, but returned to the ABC Network as Director of New York Program Development, and quickly rose to become Vice President of Daytime Programming.

Goldberg served as Head of Programming for ABC where he was responsible for developing and introducing an entirely new format: the made-for-television movie. Under the aegis of his Mandy Films, the producer presented “Something About Amelia,” starring Glenn Close and Ted Danson, on ABC in 1984. It was the highest-rated two-hour movie of its season, and one of the highest-rated ever for television. “Amelia” was internationally acclaimed for the frank and sensitive handling of the subject of incest. Goldberg won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Special, the Film Advisory Board’s Award of Excellence, the Grand Award from the 1984 International Film and TV Festival of New York, the Youth in Films Award for Best Family Film, and an award from the National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse. Additional highly acclaimed telefilms credits include “The Boy in the Plastic Bubble” and “Alex: The Life of a Child.” During his tenure at ABC, the network presented such classics as “Mod Squad,” “That Girl” and “Marcus Welby, M.D.,” and he introduced such prototypical, highly successful shows as “The Dating Game,” “The Newlywed Game” and “Dark Shadows.”

As a television producer, Goldberg formed a partnership with Aaron Spelling that launched a generous portion of the most influential and popular series in television history, including “Charlie’s Angels,” “T.J. Hooker,” “Starsky and Hutch,” “The Rookies,” “Fantasy Island,” “Hart to Hart” and the beloved, award-winning “Family.” The Goldberg and Spelling collaboration also presented 35 movies for television, among them the highest-rated two-hour movie ever made for television, “Little Ladies of the Night.”

After leaving ABC, Goldberg moved to Screen Gems (now Columbia Pictures Television) as the Vice President of Production. It was during this time that he set into motion production of the landmark television film “Brian’s Song,” which brought him the prestigious Peabody Award, among other honors. Under his leadership, Screen Gems also produced the hit television series “The Partridge Family.” Additional television credits include “Paper Dolls” and “Class of ‘96.”

Goldberg served as President of Twentieth Century Fox where, under his aegis, the studio produced such critically acclaimed hit feature films as “Broadcast News,” “Big,” “Die Hard,” “Wall Street” and “Working Girl.” Under his own banner, Goldberg produced the successful motion picture features “War Games,” “Sleeping with the Enemy,” “Double Jeopardy” and “Charlie’s Angels.” In 2011 he produced “Unknown,” starring Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones and Frank Langella.