Danny Arnold; TV Writer, Producer

Emmy Award-winning television veteran Danny Arnold, who wrote and produced series such as “Barney Miller” and “Bewitched,” has died of heart failure, Daily Variety reported. He was 70.

The Hollywood trade paper said Arnold died Saturday evening at his Los Angeles home.

Arnold received Emmys for a comedy series twice--in the 1969-70 season for “My World and Welcome to It” and in the 1981-82 season for “Barney Miller.” “Miller” also earned him a Peabody Award.

In 1985, the Writers Guild of America gave Arnold its lifetime achievement honor, the Paddy Chayefsky Award.

Born in New York City, he began his career in summer stock and vaudeville as an actor and stand-up comedian. But his first Hollywood contract was as a sound editor at Columbia in 1944.

As an actor he appeared in supporting roles with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in “Scared Stiff” and “Sailor Beware” and subsequently co-wrote “The Caddy” for the comedy duo. Arnold segued into TV variety in 1956 as a writer on the “Tennessee Ernie Ford Show.” He later did similar duties on “The Rosemary Clooney Show.”

Beginning in 1962, he had a 20-year-plus string of successful TV comedy series. Arnold was an outspoken advocate of quality programming and earned a reputation for battling networks on content issues and breakneck shooting schedules.

His dissatisfaction with network structures led him to set up his own distribution company for syndication purposes after disagreements on disbursements for “Barney Miller.” He also tinkered with converting a New Jersey armory into a studio facility. However, both plans evaporated with the cancellations of his later series “Joe Bash” and “Stat.”

Arnold is survived by his wife, Donna, and two sons, David and Dannel. Funeral arrangements are pending.