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Grant Tinker | |
|---|---|
 Grant Tinker at the 64th AnnualPeabody Awards, May 2005 | |
| Born | Grant Almerin Tinker (1926-01-11)January 11, 1926 Stamford, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Died | November 28, 2016(2016-11-28) (aged 90) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Dartmouth College |
| Occupations | Television producer and executive |
| Known for | CEO ofNBC (1981–86) |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 4, includingMark andJohn Tinker |
| Relatives | Zach Tinker (grandson) |
| Awards | Television Hall of Fame (1997) |
Grant Almerin Tinker (January 11, 1926 – November 28, 2016) was an American television executive who was chairman and CEO ofNBC from 1981 to 1986. Additionally, he was a co-founder ofMTM Enterprises and a television producer.
Tinker was born inStamford, Connecticut, the middle child of Margaret (née Hessin) and Arthur Almerin Tinker.[1][2] He had an elder sister, Phyllis (1924–2006), and a younger sister, Joan.[3] DuringWorld War II, Tinker served in theUnited States Army Air Forces Reserve. He graduated fromDartmouth College in 1949.[4]
Shortly after graduation, Tinker joinedNBC as an executive trainee, but left in 1954. In 1961, Tinker rejoined NBC and was the head of West Coast programming, where he was involved in developingI Spy,Dr. Kildare,The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,[4] the originalStar Trek, andGet Smart.[4] Tinker left NBC in 1967 to join Universal Television,[5] only to quit after two years in order to join 20th Century Fox Television in early 1969.[6] In late 1969, he and then-wifeMary Tyler Moore formed thetelevision production company MTM Enterprises. Tinker hiredRoom 222 writersJames L. Brooks andAllan Burns to create and produce the company's first television series,The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
Due to conflicts with running MTM, he left Fox in 1971.[7] MTM produced American sitcoms and drama television series such asRhoda,The Bob Newhart Show,WKRP in Cincinnati,Hill Street Blues, andSt. Elsewhere. In 1981, Tinker left MTM to become the chairman and CEO of NBC, then the perennial last-place American television network (in terms ofNielsen ratings and profits). During Tinker's tenure in NBC's top position, the network regained ratings and commissionedThe Cosby Show,Family Ties,The Golden Girls,Cheers,Night Court, andHill Street Blues. Tinker left the network in 1986, shortly after its parent companyRCA was bought byGeneral Electric.[citation needed]
After leaving NBC, Tinker tried to repeat his success with MTM by forming GTG (Grant Tinker-Gannett) Entertainment (formerly T/G Productions), but the business venture failed and the company closed in 1990.[citation needed] The company then partnered with CBS to create a long-term agreement to provide access to the output provided by GTG Entertainment, and it was an exclusive agreement handled between CBS and GTG.[8] The company had also set up subsidiaries like the syndicated television branch GTG Marketing, its East Coast production arm GTG East and the West Coast production arm GTG West, with the first production being produced by the GTG East branch was a syndicated version of the popularUSA Today magazine,USA Today on TV, which was distributed to syndicated markets by the GTG Marketing division.[9]
Tinker was married three times. In 1950, he married Ruth Byerly, with whom he had three sons and a daughter:Mark (b. 1951), Mike (b. 1952), Jodie (b. 1954) andJohn (b. 1958).[10] Mark and John are successful television producers. Tinker's marriage to Byerly ended in divorce in 1962.[10] Later that same year, Tinker married actressMary Tyler Moore, who died in January 2017, two months after Tinker’s death. This marriage also ended in divorce in 1981, though they had separated in 1979, following a 1973 breakup and reconciliation. Tinker's third marriage was in 2004 to aviatorBrooke Knapp, to whom he remained married until his death in 2016.[citation needed]
Tinker died at his Los Angeles home on November 28, 2016, at age 90.[4] He is buried atHillside Cemetery inNorth Adams, Massachusetts.[citation needed]
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| Preceded by | CEO ofNBC 1981–1986 | Succeeded by |
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