Woody Fraser, best known for creating and producing “The Mike Douglas Show” and “Good Morning America,” has died. He was 90.
He died Saturday afternoon, his daughter Stacy confirmed to Variety.
Fraser was known for pioneering the co-host format with the creation of “The Mike Douglas Show,” one of the longest-running popular talk shows in the history of TV, as Deadline noted. He won a Daytime Emmy in 1982 for his work on “The Richard Simmons Show” and was nominated for several others, including for “The Dick Cavett Show.”
Tributes began dropping as news spread.
“My mentor and a true producing genius Woody Fraser passed,” wrote his friend, fellow producer and longtime collaborator E.V. Di Massa Jr. on Facebook alongside a photo of the two of them, according to Variety. “So many memories. Here we are accepting the Mike Douglas Lifetime Award at the Emmys. May God hold him until we have our next production meeting in heaven.”
Arkansas former Gov. Mike Huckabee remembered working with Fraser at Fox News, calling him “my mentor” and “a legend.”
He is survived by his eight children and three grandchildren, Variety reported.