Dale McRaven, Mork & Mindy And Perfect Strangers Creator, Has Died At 83

Now riding solo, McRaven wrote 15 episodes of “The Partridge Family” from 1970 to 1973 while producing the albums for the band, which consisted of Shirley Jones, David Cassidy, Danny Bonaduce, and Susan Dey on the show. Sticking with ABC after this gig, he also created “The Texas Wheelers,” a short-lived sitcom that featured Gary Busey and Mark Hamill. Though it only lasted eight episodes, it was said to be the writer and producer’s favorite show that he created.

After getting a taste for creating shows, he teamed up with Gary Marshall once again to create “Angie” starring Donna Pascow and Robert Hays. Producer extraordinaire Marshall would then convince McRaven in 1978 to co-create a “Happy Days” spinoff with Joe Glauberg, centered on the alien from Ork that tried to abduct Richie Cunningham. “Mork & Mindy” became a wild success during its four season run and it launched a then-unknown Robin Williams into superstardom.

McRaven would keep the hits coming in 1986 when he created “Perfect Strangers,” a sitcom starring Mark Linn-Baker and Bronson Pinchot about two cousins from different countries living in a Chicago apartment. The series would run for eight seasons with a total of 150 episodes, even after its creator stepped away from the day to day operations while still providing script notes.

With 36 years in show business under his belt, McRaven stepped away in the mid-1990s to pursue photography and digital art. He would also start a family of his own that includes his son David, daughter Renee, and grandchildren. However, his contributions to the world of television will never be forgotten as fans can, as Mork says in his series finale, “see warmth, see love, see someone who makes me feel like I matter in this vast lonely universe” whenever they revisit his work. We at /Film thank Dale McRaven for all the laughs and extend our deepest condolences to his family.