Television Writer John Furia Jr. Passes On

Television writer John Furia Jr. passed on according to announcement made by the Writers Guild of America on Friday. He was 79 years old.

John Furia Jr. was born in 1929. He entered the entertainment business as a singer with dance bands in the New York City area. Eventually he began writing for television, his first work being on the TV series National Velvet in 1960. Furia would go on to write scripts for Dr. Kildare, Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, Longstreet, The Waltons, and Hotel. He wrote the story for one movie, The Singing Nun released in 1966. Furia also worked as a producer on such shows as Insight Kung Fu, The Blue Knight, and Gibbsville. He also wrote and produced some television movies.

From 1973 to 1975 he was president of the Writers Guild of America West. He was also a professor at the University of Southern California, where he founded the University's School of Cinema-Television Writing Division.