Former CBS Entertainment president B. Donald “Bud” Grant died July 1, 2011, in Newport Beach, California. He was 79.
Grant joined the executive training program at NBC in 1956 and two years later began working at the Today show. Over the next 14 years he held a number of positions at NBC, including manager of nighttime programs, manager of daytime programs and, for five years, national director of daytime programs.
In 1972 he moved to CBS as vice president, daytime programs. Five years later he became vice president of programs at CBS Entertainment.
He became president of CBS Entertainment in 1980, and during his tenure he oversaw such hit series as Murder, She Wrote and Newhart.
In the fall of 1987 Grant left to form his own company, Bud Grant Productions, which had a deal with CBS.
Shortly afterward, he also formed a partnership with Tribune called Grant/Tribune Productions. In 1993 Tribune left the production business and ended the venture with Grant in 1993.
Grant also established deals with the Walt Disney Co. in 1992 and with Warner Bros. TV in 1993.
He later formed a company called Third Coast Entertainment, which for a time was involved in a dispute with Elvis Presley’s widow, Priscilla Presley, over a planned television project based on her life.
A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Grant graduated from that city’s renowned Johns Hopkins University with a B.S. in business administration. He served in the Coast Guard from 1953-55.
Grant served as a governor of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and was on the board of the Hollywood Radio & Television Society. Grant was also active in various charitable causes and received the Nancy Reagan Award of the Entertainment Industry Council in 1987.