Donald P. Bellisario

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Donald P. Bellisario
Donald-bellisario-1993.png
Bellisario at Leap Con in 1993
Born
Donald Paul Bellisario

(1935-08-08) August 8, 1935 (age 88)
Cokeburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma mater Pennsylvania State University
Occupation(s)Television producer, screenwriter
Years active1977–present
Known for Magnum, P.I. ; Tales of the Gold Monkey ; Airwolf ; Quantum Leap ; JAG ; NCIS
Spouses
Margaret Schaffran
​
​
(m. 1956;div. 1974)​
Lynn Halpern
​
​
(m. 1979;div. 1984)​
​
​
(m. 1984;div. 1991)​
Vivienne Lee Murray
​
​
(m. 1998)​
Children7, including Michael and Troian Bellisario
Relatives Sean Murray (stepson)
Patrick J. Adams (son-in-law)
Awards Hollywood Walk of Fame
Military career
AllegianceFlag of the United States.svg  United States
Service/branchFlag of the United States Marine Corps.svg  United States Marine Corps
Years of service1955–1959
Rank Sergeant

Donald Paul Bellisario (born August 8, 1935) [1] is an American television producer and screenwriter who created and wrote episodes for the TV series Magnum, P.I. (1980), Tales of the Gold Monkey (1982), Airwolf (1984), Quantum Leap (1989), JAG (1995), and NCIS (2003). He has often included military veterans as characters.

Contents

Early life

Bellisario was born in Cokeburg, Pennsylvania, [2] [1] to an Italian-American father, and a Serbian-American mother. [3] He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1955 to 1959, and attained the rank of sergeant. [4] According to Bellisario, he encountered—and nearly got into a fight with—Lee Harvey Oswald in 1958 at a supply shed at Marine Air Control Squadron 9 because Oswald was reading Pravda , which offended Bellisario. [5]

Bellisario earned a bachelor's degree in journalism at Pennsylvania State University in 1961.

Bellisario became an advertising copywriter in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1965, and three years later became creative director of the Bloom Agency in Dallas, Texas. Upon rising to senior vice president after eight years, he then moved to Hollywood to pursue screenwriting and production. [2]

Career

After working under such television producers as Glen A. Larson and Stephen J. Cannell, Bellisario adopted some of their production techniques, for example, using a small pool of actors for his many productions. He created or co-created the TV series Magnum, P.I. ; Airwolf ; Quantum Leap ; [6] JAG ; and NCIS . He was a writer and producer on Black Sheep Squadron and the original Battlestar Galactica . He wrote and directed the 1988 feature film Last Rites .[ citation needed ]

Many of Bellisario's protagonists are current or former members of the United States armed forces. Tom Selleck's character in Magnum, P.I. was a United States Naval Academy graduate, former Naval Intelligence officer and Vietnam veteran; Jan-Michael Vincent's character in Airwolf was a Vietnam veteran; Commander Harmon "Harm" Rabb, Jr., the main character of JAG , was a Naval Academy graduate and former Naval Aviator; and NCIS's main character, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, is a retired Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant and Scout Sniper; [7] Jake Cutter (Stephen Collins) from Tales of the Gold Monkey was a former Flying Tigers pilot; and Albert "Al" Calavicci in Quantum Leap was a former Naval Aviator, Vietnam prisoner of war and rear admiral. Several of his main characters share August 8 as their birthday. [8]

Bellisario received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2004, which was shown in a Season 9 JAG episode, "Trojan Horse". In an interview with Sci-Fi Channel in the late 1990s, Bellisario said he was inspired to create Quantum Leap in 1988 after reading a novel about time travel. His service alongside John F. Kennedy's assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was the basis for the Quantum Leap fifth season double-length episode "Lee Harvey Oswald" (originally aired September 22, 1992). [5]

Bellisario retired in 2007, after widely reported tension with star Mark Harmon ended with the former's departure from NCIS. Although he retains the title of executive producer, he has not had any real creative or executive involvement with NCIS since then. Bellisario later sued CBS over the creation of NCIS: Los Angeles , arguing his contract with the network entitled him to the first rights to create any NCIS spin off, as well as some share of profits from the new show. The suit was settled before trial in 2011 for an undisclosed amount. [9]

Bellisario's production company was named "Belisarius Productions" after the Roman general Belisarius, as "Bellisario" is an Italian-language variant of "Belisarius".

Personal life

Bellisario married Margaret Schaffran in 1956 and they divorced in 1974. They had four children, Joy Bellisario-Jenkins (born c. 1956), David Bellisario (1957–2020) [10] a producer on NCIS: Los Angeles , Leslie Bellisario-Ingham (born c. 1961), and Julie Bellisario-Watson (producer on NCIS ).[ citation needed ]

Bellisario married Lynn Halpern in 1979 and they divorced in 1984. They had a son, Michael Bellisario, born on April 7, 1980. Michael had a recurring role as Midshipman Michael Roberts on JAG and played Charles "Chip" Sterling on NCIS.[ citation needed ]

He married Deborah Pratt, known for her character in Bellisario's Airwolf , in 1984 and they divorced in 1991. They had two children, Troian (born October 28, 1985) and Nicholas (born August 27, 1991). Troian portrayed Sarah McGee on NCIS , Teresa on Quantum Leap , and Erin on JAG , but has become best known for her 2010–2017 role as Spencer Hastings on Pretty Little Liars , a series her father did not produce.[ citation needed ]

Bellisario married Vivienne Murray (née Lee), on November 27, 1998. He gained two stepsons from the marriage, Chad and Sean Murray, the latter an actor who plays Timothy McGee on NCIS.[ citation needed ]

Philanthropy and awards

In 2001, Penn State named Bellisario a Distinguished Alumnus, the highest honor bestowed on a graduate.

In 2006, Bellisario endowed a $1 million Trustee Matching Scholarship in the Penn State College of Communications. He recalled:

Growing up in a hardscrabble western Pennsylvania coal mining town, I know first hand the sacrifices that are made to give a son or daughter a university education ... and as a Marine veteran who returned to Penn State with two small children and little money, I remember all too well that struggle. It's my hope that this scholarship will also ease the financial burden of other young men and women who have defended our country to attain their academic goals. [11]

On October 27, 2016, he received a Visionary Award at the UCLA Neurosurgery Visionary Ball. [12]

On April 21, 2017, the Pennsylvania State University Board of Trustees voted to rename the College of Communications the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications in recognition of a $30 million endowment from Bellisario. The donation is one of the largest gifts in Penn State history. [13] [14]

Filmography

YearsTitleDirectorWriterProducerCreatorNotes
1977 Big Hawaii Yes
Kojak Yes
1977–1978 Baa Baa Black Sheep YesYesYes
1978 Switch Yes
1978–1979 Battlestar Galactica YesYesYes
1979 Quincy, M.E. Yes
1980 Stone Yes
1980–1988 Magnum, P.I. YesYesYesYes
1982–1983 Tales of the Gold Monkey YesYesYes
1984–1987 Airwolf YesYesYesYes
1987Three on a MatchYesYesTelevision film
1988 Last Rites YesYesYes Directorial Debut (only theatrical feature film credit)
1989–1993 Quantum Leap YesYesYesYes
1992 Tequila and Bonetti YesYesYes
1995CrowfootYesYesYesTelevision film
1995–2005 JAG YesYesYesYes
2002 First Monday YesYesYesYes
2003–present NCIS YesYesYesYes
2022–present Quantum Leap (2022 TV series) YesYes

Related Research Articles

<i>Quantum Leap</i> (1989 TV series) American science fiction television series

Quantum Leap is an American science fiction television series, created by Donald P. Bellisario, that premiered on NBC and aired for five seasons, from March 26, 1989, to May 5, 1993. The series stars Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett, a physicist who involuntarily leaps through spacetime during experiments in time travel, by temporarily taking the place of other people to correct what he consistently discovers were historical mistakes.

<i>JAG</i> (TV series) American legal drama television series (1995–2005)

JAG is an American legal drama television series with a U.S. Navy theme, created by Donald P. Bellisario, and produced by Belisarius Productions in association with Paramount Network Television. The series originally aired on NBC for one season from September 23, 1995, to May 22, 1996, and then on CBS for an additional nine seasons from January 3, 1997, to April 29, 2005. The first season was co-produced with NBC Productions and was originally perceived as a Top Gun meets A Few Good Men hybrid series.

Magnum, P.I. is an American crime drama television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator (P.I.) living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from December 11, 1980, to May 1, 1988, during its first-run broadcast on the American television network CBS. Magnum, P.I. consistently ranked in the top 20 U.S. television programs in the Nielsen ratings during the first five years of its original run, finishing as high as number three for the 1982–83 season. The series entered syndication in 1986 under the title Magnum in order to differentiate reruns from new episodes still airing under the original title on CBS.

<i>Airwolf</i> American action military drama television series (1984–1987)

Airwolf is an American action military drama television series. It centers on a high-technology Attack helicopter, code-named Airwolf, and its crew. They undertake various exotic missions, many involving espionage, with a Cold War theme. It was created by Donald P. Bellisario and was produced over four seasons, running from January 22, 1984, until August 7, 1987.

<i>Tales of the Gold Monkey</i> American television series

Tales of the Gold Monkey was an American adventure drama television series broadcast in prime time on Wednesday nights by ABC from September 22, 1982, until June 1, 1983. Debuting the year following the release of Raiders of the Lost Ark, the series featured the romance of early aviation, exotic locales, and cliff-hanging action. Creator Don Bellisario said it was based on the film, Only Angels Have Wings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Whitmore Jr.</span> Actor, television director

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harmon Rabb</span> Fictional character

Harmon 'Harm' Rabb, Jr. is a fictional character and lead role in the American television series JAG. The character was created by Donald P. Bellisario, as a work for hire for Paramount Television, in the script for the JAG pilot episode, which was filmed and then aired by NBC on September 23, 1995.

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"Yankee White" is the first episode in the first season of the American crime drama television series NCIS. It first aired on CBS in the United States on September 23, 2003. The episode is written by Donald P. Bellisario & Don McGill and directed by Bellisario. It was seen by 13.04 million viewers.

Michael Angelo Bellisario is an American actor and the son of scriptwriter and producer Donald P. Bellisario.

Jeffery Neill MacKay was an American character actor. MacKay was born in Dallas, Texas.

The Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications is the undergraduate and graduate college dedicated to the study of journalism, mass communications and media at Pennsylvania State University. Re-established in 2017 under its new name after the producer, screenwriter and benefactor Donald P. Bellisario, the Bellisario College is home to four departments: Advertising/Public Relations, Journalism, Film Production and Media Studies, and Telecommunications and Media Industries. Offering five undergraduate majors, a master's degree in media studies, and a Ph.D. program in mass communications, the college is the largest accredited program of its kind in the United States. The college's facilities are located on the University Park campus.

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Chas. Floyd Johnson is an African-American television producer, actor and activist, known for The Rockford Files (1975–1980), Magnum, P.I. (1982–1988), and Red Tails (2012). A three-time Emmy Award winner, Johnson currently serves as Executive Producer of the CBS Television Studios' television series, NCIS (2003–2019), following his tenure as an executive producer of the long-running CBS television series, JAG (1997–2005).

"Ice Queen" and "Meltdown" is the two-part backdoor pilot for the American crime drama NCIS. The episodes aired as the twentieth and twenty-first episodes of the eighth season of the American legal drama JAG. Both episodes were written by Donald P. Bellisario and Don McGill. "Ice Queen" was directed by Bellisario and aired on CBS on April 22, 2003. "Meltdown" was directed by Scott Brazil and aired on April 29, 2003.

References

  1. 1 2 VanDerWerff, Emily (July 6, 2010). "Donald P. Bellisario". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 15, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Donald Paul Bellisario". Universal Television via Quantum Leap official site (Sci Fi Channel). Archived from the original on July 12, 2006.
  3. ↑ Markovic, Kristina (July 13, 2023). "Glumice za koje niste imali pojma da su srpskog porekla". Zadovoljna (in Serbian). Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  4. ↑ Jerry Roberts (June 5, 2009). Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors. Scarecrow Press. pp. 36–37. ISBN   978-0-8108-6378-1.
  5. 1 2 "Quantum Leap". Television Academy Interviews. October 23, 2017.
  6. ↑ O'Connor, John J. (November 22, 1989). "Review/Television; An Actor's 'Quantum Leap' Through Times and Roles". The New York Times. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Leroy Jethro Gibbs", Wikipedia, January 27, 2020, retrieved February 22, 2020
  8. ↑ Bill Carter, "Behind a Quiet Little Hit, a Reliable Hit Maker." The New York Times October 25, 2005, Vol. 155 Issue 53378, pE1-E7.
  9. ↑ Patten, Dominic (January 18, 2013). "UPDATE: 'NCIS' Creator 'Gratified' to Reach Settlement with CBS". Deadline Hollywood .
  10. ↑ "David Scott Bellisario Obituary (1957–2020) Los Angeles Times". Legacy.com .
  11. ↑ "Bellisario's $1 million gift endows scholarships in College of Communications" (Press release). Penn State University. October 2, 2006. Archived from the original on June 2, 2009. Retrieved May 5, 2011.
  12. ↑ "Donald P. Bellisario – Honoree – UCLA Neurosurgery Visionary Ball, Los Angeles, CA".
  13. ↑ "Bellisario Gift – Dedication Site / Bellisario College of Communications". bellisario.psu.edu. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Television legend Donald P. Bellisario endows College of Communications | Penn State University". news.psu.edu. Retrieved February 22, 2020.

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