John Rich, the veteran director and producer, who worked on a number of TV classics including “All in the Family,” “Gunsmoke”, “Gilligan’s Island” and “MacGyver” died of heart failure Sunday morning in Los Angeles. He was 86.

photo courtasy DGA

Rich is best known to MacGyver fans as being the other half of the Winkler/Rich executive production team which oversaw the production of the show for it’s 7 season run.  John’s last peice of work before retirement was to serve as Executive Producer for the 2003 TV movie, Young MacGyver.

John Rich is described as a key figure in the history of the Directors Guild of America. He was instrumental in the 1960 merger between the Screen Directors Guild and the Radio and Television Directors Guild, which formed today’s Directors Guild of America.

Calling Rich “a legendary figure in the history of TV comedy,” DGA president Taylor Hackford said, “He directed some of the most beloved classics of all time and his skills as a television director were unsurpased, but no matter how busy and successful his career was, John always made time for the DGA.”

Read The Hollywood Reporter article about John Rich

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