Harve Bennett

Harve Bennett (born Harve Bennett Fischman; August 17, 1930 – February 25, 2015) was an American television and film producer and screenwriter. Early years Bennett was born to a Jewish family in Chicago, Illinois, in 1930, the son of Kathryn (née Susman), a journalist, and Yale Fishman, a lawyer. As a young boy, Bennett appeared on the radio program Quiz Kids, which introduced him to show business. By the time Bennett had reached college age, the radio business was in decline, and he turned to the world of film. He entered the University of California, Los Angeles and graduated from their film school. Following his graduation from college, in 1953 Bennett joined the United States Army. He served in the Military Police Corps, based at the United States Disciplinary Barracks in Lompoc, California. He was honorably discharged in 1955 with the rank of corporal. Bennett then began his career as a production executive. He first worked at CBS in New York City and later moved to the programming department of ABC, becoming Vice President of Daytime Programming. At ABC, he rose to become Vice President of Programming for a time. Move to production Following his work with ABC, Bennett moved over to production. His first project was to develop a television series with producer Aaron Spelling called The Mod Squad, which Bennett produced from 1968 until 1973. Following The Mod Squad, Bennett joined Universal Studios where he produced a variety of television series and miniseries. The best known of these series are probably The Six Million Dollar Man (1973–78) and The Bionic Woman (1976-78). Other series and miniseries he produced at Universal include Rich Man, Poor Man (1976), The Invisible Man (1975) and Gemini Man (1976).