Howard Lipstone
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Howard Lipstone was a producer and executive best known for his partnership with the late Alan Landsburg, who collaborated with him on the television movie The Ryan White Story and the television series In Search of… and Kate & Allie.
Together, the two men founded Alan Landsburg Productions (ALP) in 1970. Lipstone served as president and executive in charge of production and guided the making of the 1989 telefilm The Ryan White Story, based on the true story of White, a boy with AIDS who was expelled from middle school because of his infection. ALP would continue to produce a variety of socially conscious television movies and miniseries, and played a large role in the development of reality television as a genre.
Other notable television movies that Lipstone worked on included 1983’s Adam, the true story of the kidnapping of Adam Walsh, son of John Walsh (the creator of America’s Most Wanted); as well as 1981’s Bill, starring Mickey Rooney as a man who leaves a psychiatric hospital and goes out into the world for the first time, which earned Rooney a Golden Globe.
Howard Lipstone was a producer and executive best known for his partnership with the late Alan Landsburg, who collaborated with him on the television movie The Ryan White Story and the television series In Search of… and Kate & Allie.
Together, the two men founded Alan Landsburg Productions (ALP) in 1970. Lipstone served as president and executive in charge of production and guided the making of the 1989 telefilm The Ryan White Story, based on the true story of White, a boy with AIDS who was expelled from middle school because of his infection. ALP would continue to produce a variety of socially conscious television movies and miniseries, and played a large role in the development of reality television as a genre.
Other notable television movies that Lipstone worked on included 1983’s Adam, the true story of the kidnapping of Adam Walsh, son of John Walsh (the creator of America’s Most Wanted); as well as 1981’s Bill, starring Mickey Rooney as a man who leaves a psychiatric hospital and goes out into the world for the first time, which earned Rooney a Golden Globe.
Lipstone also worked on the television movies The Small Miracle, The George McKenna Story, Too Young the Hero, A Stoning in Fulham County, Quiet Victory: The Charlie Wedemeyer Story, In Defense of a Married Man, A Triumph of the Heart: The Ricky Bell Story, The Great Diamond Robbery, A Mother's Right: The Elizabeth Morgan Story, Terror in the Night, Living Dolls: The Making of a Child Beauty Queen, Murder in the First Person Singular, Fear on Trial, The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal, Torn Between Two Lovers, And Baby Makes Six, The Jayne Mansfield Story, A Long Way Home, Nightmare in Columbia County, The Lottery and County Justice, among many more.
Additionally, he worked on the television series In Search of…, which feautured investigations into mysterious phenomena and was hosted by Star Trek’s Leonard Nimoy; as well as That’s Incredible!; Those Amazing Animals; and the sitcoms The Kids from C.A.P.E.R., Gimme a Break! and Kate & Allie, the latter starring Jane Curtin and Susan Saint James. He also worked on the miniseries The Glory Boys and The Chisholms.
Lipstone graduated from USC with a degree in film and got his start as assistant to the general manager at KTLA-TV. He then worked as film and program director at KABC and later as head of production at Ivan Tors Studios. ALP was acquired by Reeves Communications Corp. in 1978, then was reformed in 1985 as The Landsburg Co. He continued on as president, adding COO duties.
Lipstone died August 24, 2015, in Westwood, California. He was 87.
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