August 11, 2010

Emmy Winner Allan Manings, Creator of One Day at a Time, Passes

The prolific writer-producer’s other credits include McHale’s Navy, Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In and Leave It to Beaver.

Allan Manings, an Emmy-winning writer who created the popular 1970s comedy series One Day at a Time, died on May 12, 2010, in Los Angeles. He was 86.

According to news reports, Manings’ death was confirmed by his stepdaughter, actress Meredith Baxter, who said he had a heart attack and was being treated for esophageal cancer.

Manings, a former board member and vice president of the Writers Guild, also worked on such series as McHale’s Navy, Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, Leave It to Beaver and Good Times.

He developed the concept for One Day at a Time, about a divorcée living on her own with her two teenage daughters, with his wife, Baxter’s mother, actress Whitney Blake. The idea was based on Blake’s experience as a divorced parent.

The series, set in Indianapolis, premiered in the fall of 1975. Bonnie Franklin starred as the mother and Mackenzie Phillips and Valerie Bertinelli played her daughters. It ran until 1984, but Manings left as producer after the first season.

Manings was born in Newark, New Jersey, on March 28, 1924, and grew up on Staten Island. He served in the Pacific during World War II and in 1946 he was in the first group of men to enroll at Sarah Lawrence College, as part of the G.I. Bill.

He won an Emmy for his work on Laugh-In, and continued to write throughout his life. In the last year he finished a play, Good-bye Louie ... Hello, about an actor who was blacklisted. The play will be produced in Los Angeles this fall.

In addition to Baxter, Manings is survived by two stepsons, a sister, nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

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