
Birthday: August 12, 1927
Death: March 27, 2006
Daniel Mayer Cherkoss (August 12, 1927 – March 27, 2006), known by his pen name Dan Curtis, was an American director and producer of television and film, best known for creating the horror soap Dark Shadows. Dark Shadows ran from 1966 to 1971 for a record-setting 1,225 episodes. Curtis also produced the 1991 revival, which was canceled after twelve episodes due to low ratings. He also served as executive producer for a WB reboot; however, it was canceled before the pilot episode aired. His series of macabre films include The Night Stalker (which inspired the series Kolchak: The Night Stalker), Intruders, The Night Strangler, House of Dark Shadows, Night of Dark Shadows, Burnt Offerings, Trilogy of Terror, The Norliss Tapes (a 1973 pilot for an unproduced series starring Roy Thinnes), Curse of the Black Widow, Dead of Night, Scream of the Wolf, and others. He worked frequently with sci-fi/horror writer Richard Matheson. Curtis was producer and/or director of a number of television adaptations of horror-related productions including Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Turn of the Screw, all made between 1968 and 1975. In 1978, Curtis made a departure from his usual macabre offerings, when he wrote, produced, and directed the sentimental NBC television film When Every Day Was the Fourth of July. Although fictionalized, the film was semi-autobiographical, based on his childhood growing up in 1930s Bridgeport. The film was originally intended to be a pilot for a potential series, but when the series was not picked up by NBC, Curtis made a sequel, The Long Days of Summer, this time airing on ABC. In 1983, Curtis directed the epic seven-part miniseries The Winds of War, based on Herman Wouk's 1971 novel of the same name about the lives of the fictional Henry and Jastrow families as they intersect with the major global events of the early years of World War II. It won three Primetime Emmys (of 13 nominations) and was nominated for four Golden Globes, including Best Miniseries or Television Film. The success spawned a 1988 sequel miniseries, War and Remembrance, also based on a novel by Wouk. Curtis died of a brain tumor in his home on March 27, 2006, two weeks after the death of his wife Norma. Curtis' rights to Dark Shadows remain with his estate, who have signed a deal with Warner Bros. for a new Dark Shadows film, which released in March 2012 to mixed reviews. Description above from the Wikipedia article Dan Curtis, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia

January 07, 1968

January 16, 1973

January 16, 1973

October 18, 1976

May 11, 2005

January 11, 1972

October 30, 1996

March 04, 1975

February 21, 1973

September 09, 1970

August 04, 1971

September 16, 1977

March 29, 1977

February 01, 1998

June 13, 1974

August 26, 1969

April 15, 1974

September 19, 1975

January 16, 1974

November 06, 1974

February 28, 1975

October 22, 1993

January 01, 1986

March 12, 1978

September 19, 1979

January 01, 1967

February 07, 1979

March 08, 1974

April 23, 1973

May 23, 1980

September 15, 2009

November 20, 1979

March 13, 2005

July 29, 1990

January 28, 1974

August 20, 1974

May 14, 1974

January 01, 2004