Jamie Tarses, the first woman to run a network entertainment division, died Monday morning from complications from a heart condition she contracted last fall. She was 56.
The industry pioneer’s family confirmed her passing, Deadline reported.
Before shooting through glass ceilings for female TV industry executives, Tarses was instrumental in the development of modern TV classics, including two tent pole entries in NBC’s iconic ‘must-see TV’ lineup on Thursday nights: ‘Friends’ and’ Frasier. ”
Despite being a mega-power player, Tarses once said humbly: “[I’m] a real fan of the medium. I like television, I really do. “
Her ascent to that power was unusually rapid. She graduated from Williams College, Massachusetts in 1985 with a degree in theater and soon landed a nondescript job as an assistant on Saturday Night Live, followed by a stint as casting director for Lorimar Productions.
After successfully overseeing the production of NBC hits’ Cheers’ and ‘A Different World,’ she developed a string of beloved hits for the network, such as’ The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ‘,’ Wings’, ‘ NewsRadio ‘,’ Mad About You ‘and’ Blossom ‘.
Tarses was promoted to senior vice president of primetime series in 1994 – making her second-in-command to then-NBC entertainment president Warren Littlefield, who said her “developmental skills were extraordinary.”
In a statement to Deadline, Littlefield said, “In her NBC days, surrounded by top executives, she stood out. She had the ability to make writers feel safe and get the best out of them. She fought for them. Understanding the wants and needs of writers probably started by growing up in a household with her father who wrote and produced comedies. She perfected that understanding when she became a development manager. “
Unfortunately, her reign at NBC was to last only 11 months. “When she left NBC we knew she was going to be missed, but the opportunity was right at ABC,” Littlefield said.
Tarses was only 32 when she was named president of ABC Entertainment in June 1996.
“At a time when all major networks were losing young viewers, Ms. Tarses seemed to speak the language of that coveted audience,” the Wall Street Journal wrote at the time. “She had what is known in the TV programming language as ‘taste’, or the ability to spot hot ideas, writers and stars.”
After helping launch hits like “Dharma & Greg,” “Spin City,” “Sports Night,” and “The Practice,” Tarses resigned in 1999 amid a corporate restructuring by ABC’s parent company, Disney.
“Jamie was a pioneer in the truest sense of the word,” Karey Burke, the current president of Disney’s 20th Television and former president of ABC Entertainment, told the Hollywood Reporter in a statement. She broke stereotypes and ideas about what a female executive could achieve, and paved the way for others at the expense of herself. She was a mentor and friend, and many of us owe her so much.
“As an executive and producer, she was a champion of storytelling, raised by one of the greatest greats of all time,” said Burke. “Her talent and contribution to our community will only be missed.”
Tarses held various executive producer roles throughout the 2000s. Her latest project, “The Mysterious Benedict Society”, is currently listed as in post production for the Disney + streaming service.
She is survived by her partner Paddy Aubrey; their children, Wyatt and Sloane; her parents, Jay and Rachel Tarses; her siblings, Matt and Mallory Tarses; her sister-in-law, Katie Tarses; three nieces; and a cousin. The Tarses family said that donations could be made to the Young Storytellers project in honor of her.