Harve Bennett

Producer-writer Harve Bennett initially made a name for himself in television, although it was his work on a beloved film franchise that earned him the gratitude of legions of fans for decades to come. Bennett began his career as a television producer for CBS and ABC networks before going into business for himself on programs such as the youth-cop drama "The Mod Squad" (ABC, 1968-1973). From there, he went on to produce a string of made-for-TV movies and genre adventure series, including "The Astronaut" (ABC, 1972) and "The Invisible Man" (NBC, 1975-76). Notably, Bennett served as executive producer on "Rich Man, Poor Man" (ABC, 1975-76), the seminal miniseries that introduced audiences to Nick Nolte. After completing his run on the pop-culture phenomenon "The Six Million Dollar Man" (ABC, 1973-78), he served in the same capacity on such TV-movies as "A Woman Called Golda" (syndicated, 1982). That same year, Bennett produced and developed the story for the hit sequel "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" (1982); regarded by many as the film that saved the venerated sci-fi property. In addition to periodic returns to television, Bennett would oversee the "Star Trek" universe as a producer-writer for its next three film installments. One of film and television's unsung heroes, Bennett's contributions could be measured, in part, by the continued popularity of the original "Star Trek" films and their galaxy-hopping progeny.