‘NYPD Blue’ and ‘Deadwood’ Legend Dies of Lung Cancer: Ted Mann Was 72

Emmy-winning producer Ted Mann is dead at 72.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Mann, a writer on shows such as NYPD Blue and Deadwood, passed away on Thursday at St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica.

His daughter, Lucy Bujold, tells the outlet he was battling lung cancer. Born on Oct. 24, 1952, Mann initially worked for a magazine in Canada. He later became a writer and editor at humor magazine National Lampoon. He transitioned to television, writing for two projects in 1979: HBO’s Disco Beaver From Outer Space and ABC’s Animal House spinoff Delta House, both of which came from the magazine.

Some of Mann’s earlier writing credits include Drawing Power, O.C. and Stiggs, Slimer! And the Real Ghostbusters, Miami Vice, and Max Monroe. In 1991, he joined the ABC legal drama Civil Wars as a producer and writer. The show ran for two seasons, from 1991 to 1993. After Civil Wars, he worked on ABC’s NYPD Blue as a producer during the first two seasons. He also has writing credits on 18 episodes across Seasons 1, 2, 5, and 6.

Mann also served as a writer and producer on the first three seasons of HBO’s Western crime drama Deadwood, from 2004 to 2006, and on the fifth, sixth, and seventh seasons of the Showtime political thriller Homeland, from 2015 to 2018. With frequent collaborators David Milch, Steven Bocho, and others, Mann received an Emmy in 1995 for Outstanding Drama Series for NYPD and was nominated in the category and others for Deadwood in 2005 and Homeland in 2016.

Additional writing/producing credits include Crash, John from Cincinnati, Skin, Total Recall 2070, Millennium, Space Truckers, Wiseguy, Magic City, Hatfields & McCoys, Andromeda, and Judging Amy. Along with writing and producing, he actually has a few acting credits in his name, appearing briefly in NYPD Blue, Space: Above and Beyond, and John from Cincinnati. His longest acting credit is eight episodes in Deadwood, where he appeared as Rutherford in Seasons 2 and 3.

Along with his daughter, Ted Mann is survived by his second wife of 37 years, Bly, whom he was with for 42 years total; his daughter, Elizabeth; his son, James; siblings Bayne and Tish; and grandchildren Virginia, Graham, and Magnus. As of now, it’s unknown how long Mann had been battling lung cancer.