One hundred years ago on Sunday, 22 May, a certain Irwin Martin Cohn was born in New York City. We all know him as powerhouse television producer Quinn Martin, who produced The FBI. Mr. Martin began his show business career as a scriptwriter in the early 1950s, and in the sound department. He started work as a producer in 1958, and was responsible for producing The Untouchables for its first season in 1959.
His producing career shifted into high gear in 1963 when The Fugitive began its four-year run. By the time The FBI started two years later, he also had Twelve O’Clock High in his stable of television shows. Of all the shows he produced in the 1960s and 1970s, The FBI had the longest run, at nine seasons.
And he had many.
His shows were unmistakable when it came to their formats: Usually, they had a Prologue, four acts and an Epilogue. He helped to perfect the format of the one-hour drama. And many of the shows had narration to go with them; The FBI had that beginning in Season Two in 1966.
Quinn Martin’s last production was in 1980. By this time, he had received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He died at age 65 on 5 September 1987 in Rancho Santa Fe, California.