Sam Strangis, ‘CSI’ and ‘Happy Days’ Producer, Dies at 95

Sam Strangis, the director, producer and production executive behind shows such as “CSI,” “The Brady Bunch,” and “Happy Days,” died of kidney failure on July 23 at Providence Little Company of Mary Hospital in Torrance, Calif., a family spokesperson confirmed. He was 95.

Strangis began his career as a script supervisor at Revue Studios before directing several episodes of “The Restless Gun,” which ran from 1957 to 1959. He went on to serve as a production manager for the 1966 film “Batman: The Movie” and later made the transition to head of production at Paramount Studios.

At Paramount, Strangis oversaw television shows such as “The Odd Couple,” “Happy Days,” “Laverne & Shirley,” “The Brady Bunch,” “Love,” “American Style,” and “Mannix.”

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Strangis, along with his producing partner, Don Boyle, eventually left Paramount to work on the iconic series “Six Million Dollar Man” for Universal Studios. He then went on to produce a number of television films before reprising his tenure at Paramount as vice president of television production.

Strangis later founded an independent production company known as Ten-Four Productions. Ten-Four Productions focused primarily on TV movies such as “Reason for Living: The Jill Ireland Story,” “Rainbow Warrior,” and “Rainbow,” which portrayed the life of Judy Garland.

Strangis concluded his five-decade-spanning career as a producer for “CSI” and “CSI: Miami,” two of the network’s most successful television series. He was nominated as part of the “CSI” producing team for the Primetime Dramatic Series Emmy, the Golden Globe and the Producer Guild of America Norman Felton Award. 

Strangis is survived by his wife, Bonnie, daughter Debi, sons Gary and Greg, sisters Judy and Cindy, 5 grandchildren, and 9 great-grandchildren. Services for his memorial were held on August, 22 at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church in Brentwood, Calif.