William Self, who produced dozens of television programs during his 15 years working at 20th Century-Fox Television, passed away on November 15th (Monday) at the age of 89. In the mid-1940s he began acting in movies, although the bulk of his acting credits at the Internet Movie Database are uncredited. In the early 1950s he shifted to directing and producing. He produced Schlitz Playhouse of Stars on CBS from 1953 to 1956, The Frank Sinatra Show on ABC from 1957 to 1958 and later produced the pilot episode of Twilight Zone (“Where Is Everybody?”).
In 1959, he moved to 20th Century-Fox Television and over the course of the next 15 years produced shows like Batman, Peyton Place, Land of the Giants, Julia, Lost in Space. He was also responsible for bringing M*A*S*H to television. When he left in 1974, he had risen to president of 20th Century-Fox Television and vice president of 20th Century-Fox Corp. After leaving Fox, Self helped form Frankovich-Self Productions and in the late 1970s began working with CBS, ultimately become president of CBS Theatrical Film Production in the early 1980s. In 1991, he produced “Sarah, Plain and Tall” for Hallmark Hall of Fame.
In 2001, Self was interviewed for the Archive of American Television. Here’s the first part of the interview:
Obituaries can be found at The Los Angeles Times and the Hollywood Reporter.
Mr. William Self sure produced a wide range of good television. What a rich career he had.
Let’s clarify something here…Mr. Self did not produce those shows for Fox…rather, he was in charge of production for 20th Century-Fox Television for most of the ’60’s, overseeing EVERY SHOW they produced. Eventually, he was promoted to the presidency of the entire company, which is why you don’t see his name on any of the ’70’s shows that TCF did.