Aaron Spelling, 83; Prolific TV Hitmaker

Mr. Spelling was born in Dallas on April 22, 1923, according to one authoritative account, although other dates have been given, and was the youngest of five children of a Russian Jewish immigrant tailor. Classmates often made anti-Semitic taunts, he later said, and his shyness and slight build made it hard to fight back.

While recuperating from what he called a "nervous breakdown" at age 8, he spent the year reading books and was especially drawn to O. Henry. He said most of his plotlines drew inspiration from O. Henry's ironic plotlines.

He began to put on shows during World War II while serving in the Army Air Forces in Europe. He continued his involvement in theater while attending Southern Methodist University on the G.I. Bill and also was reportedly the school's first Jewish cheerleader. Before graduating in 1950, he received several awards for his one-act plays, and this led to stage directing jobs in the Dallas area.

Hoping to write for television, he settled in Los Angeles and worked as an airline reservations clerk, talent scout for an all-girl orchestra and dinner theater director. He won movie bit parts in forgettable cowboy and crime films and acted on "Dragnet" and other television shows. Gradually, he managed to sell scripts to Dick Powell and Jane Wyman, both former actors who became producers.

He was so prolific contributing scripts for "Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre," the CBS western anthology program, that he became a producer of the show in 1960. Two years later, he produced his first series, "The Lloyd Bridges Show," a CBS dramatic anthology with Bridges playing an investigative freelance journalist.

He went on to produce "The Smothers Brothers Show," a sitcom; "The Guns of Will Sonnett," a western with Walter Brennan; "The Danny Thomas Hour," a musical-variety show starring the entertainer who became Mr. Spelling's business partner.

Thomas and Mr. Spelling produced the long-running drama "The Mod Squad," about counterculture youths -- one white (a drifter), one black (a Watts rioter), one woman (a prostitute's daughter) -- recruited to the police force to ferret out adult criminals targeting the young.

The show's contemporary dialogue and emphasis on violence was Mr. Spelling's attempt to win back younger viewers. It ran so long and was so commercially successful that Mr. Spelling was signed to an exclusive production contract with ABC. With Leonard Goldberg, a former ABC vice president of programming, he produced "The Rookies," about young cops who clash with hard-line commanding officer. He followed with "S.W.A.T.," with Steve Forrest and Robert Urich, and "Starsky and Hutch" with David Soul and Paul Michael Glaser.

Mr. Spelling and Goldberg teamed with Mike Nichols in 1976 to make the domestic drama "Family," one of Spelling's rare critical successes. The show won four Emmy Awards, all for acting, and became a point of pride for Mr. Spelling. He said he was "decimated" by its cancellation in 1980, later telling the New York Times that making that show "was the happiest creative time of my life."

Meanwhile, he was busy with "Charlie's Angels," an undisputed hit despite horrendous reviews. The detective show, which ran from 1976 to 1981, featured three gorgeous sleuths who use their street smarts and athleticism to stop crime. Among the rotating cast were Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith, Farrah Fawcett-Majors and Cheryl Ladd.

Fawcett-Majors, in particular, became a major pin-up star and tried to leave the show to focus on making movies.

He returned to the guest star format with "The Love Boat" (1977 to 1986) and "Fantasy Island" (1978 to 1984), with Ricardo Montalban as a wealthy host on an island who promises to fulfill all wishes. "The Love Boat" also was the first show from his new company, Aaron Spelling Productions.