Bruce Paltrow

As a writer, producer, show creator and feature director, Bruce Paltrow had been associated in one form or another with some of television's more substantive series during the 1970s and 1980s. Despite his long and varied career, however, Paltrow was best known for being the father of Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow, and the husband of acclaimed actress Blythe Danner. After receiving his start as a writer for the small screen, Paltrow broke through as the writer-producer of the notable television movie, "Shirts/Skins" (ABC, 1973). Later in the decade, he was the creator and executive producer of the critically acclaimed drama, "The White Shadow" (CBS, 1978-1981), before serving as an executive producer on the Emmy-winning medical drama "St. Elsewhere" (NBC, 1982-88). During that time, he made his first feature, "A Little Sex" (1981), but would not make another for almost two decades. Though cancer would claim him at a relatively young age, Paltrow nonetheless made his mark on the television world.