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Sue Reiner, a former producer and TV executive at Warner Bros., Avnet/Kerner and MarVista Entertainment, has died. She was 69.
Reiner died April 6 at her home in Gearhart, Ore., following a brief battle with cancer, her friend Pamela Godwin-Austen announced.
As vp drama at Warner Bros. Television starting in 1990, Reiner helped develop such network shows as The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.; Angel Street; The Human Target; Under Cover; and The Flash, as well as the long-running syndicated series Kung Fu: The Legend Continues.
She also worked with studio-based writers including John Wells, Lydia Woodward (E.R., Third Watch, The West Wing), Thania St. John (Roswell), Toni Graphia (Wolf Lake, Roswell), Kerry Ehrin (Cold Feet) and Bill Broyles (Castaway).
Reiner went on to become senior vp TV series development at Avnet/Kerner, where she conceptualized, developed and produced shows and pilots, including one that paired the singer Sisqo with Bob Newhart.
She also developed longform films for networks, was the company’s liaison with Disney and Paramount Big Ticket and brought writers including Ehrin (Inspector Gadget), Kimberlee Reed (SuperJoe) and Ami Mann (Nancy Drew) into the Avnet/Kerner fold.
After a stint as an assistant professor at Ithaca College in New York, Reiner joined MarVista as head of TV development in 2006, serving as an exec producer on such projects as the series Beyond the Break and the telefilms Special Delivery, Will You Merry Me? and NYC: Tornado Terror.
Born in New York on May 29, 1948, Susan Wynne Reiner was a graduate of the NYU Masters in Cinema program. She worked for CBS in New York before relocating to Los Angeles in the early 1980s.
She served as president of the L.A. office of international marketing and publicity agency Dennis Davidson Associates, where her client list included CBS, Lorimar, Orion Pictures, Goldcrest and Embassy. Reiner then worked as an executive vp for Consolidated Productions and as a consultant for ABC Video before joining Warner Bros. TV in 1990.
Reiner also taught courses in public relations and crisis management at Cal State Los Angeles, UCLA Extension, USC, UC Northridge and UC Santa Barbara. She moved from L.A. to the beach town of Gearhart in June.
Survivors include her sister Margot and her pets Hattie and Mattie.
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