Former CEO of NBC Grant Tinker Dies at 90

Grant Tinker, former chairman and CEO of NBC, passed away on Tuesday, Nov. 29 at the age of 90.

Tinker had a very successful and long career in the TV industry, Deadline reports. In 1969, Tinker and his then-wife, actress Mary Tyler Moore, launched MTM Enterprises which produced popular series such as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, starring Moore, Rhoda, The Bob Newhart Show, Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere.

He left MTM Enterprises in 1981 to pursue the role of chairman and CEO of NBC. With the help of Brandon Tartikoff as entertainment president, Tinker was able to turnaround the ratings and launch the network from last place to first. Due to the strength of hit series such as The Cosby Show, Family Ties, The Golden Girls, Cheers, Night Court and Hill Street Blues, the network continued to rise.

He won a personal Peabody Award in 1994 and was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1997.

"Grant Tinker was a great man who made an indelible mark on NBC and the history of television that continues to this day," NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke said in a statement. "He loved creative people and protected them, while still expertly managing the business. Very few people have been able to achieve such a balance. We try to live up to the standards he set each and every day. Our hearts go out to his family and friends."

Tinker is survived by his sons, director-producer Mark Tinker and writer-producer John Tinker.

This story first appeared at Womanista.