Peter S. Fischer – who co-created Murder, She Wrote – has passed away at 88 as the series will be adapted to the big screen.
The television writer died on Monday at a care facility in Pacific Grove, California his grandson Jake McElrath told The Hollywood Reporter.
His death comes just over a year after Murder, She Wrote series lead Angela Lansbury passed away peacefully in her sleep aged 96 in October 2022.
He was a longtime television writer for crime series including Columbo, Baretta, and Ellery Queen.
Icon: Peter S. Fischer – who co-created Murder, She Wrote – has passed away at 88 as the series will be adapted to the big screen
Working relationship: His death comes just over a year after Murder, She Wrote series lead Angela Lansbury (center) passed away peacefully in her sleep aged 96 in October 2022; they are pictured with Robert O’Neill (left) at he Golden Globes in 1985
After leaving Hollywood, Fischer’s writing career did not end as he became a prolific novelist with the obvious choice of writing murder mysteries.
Fischer co-created Murder, She Wrote with Richard Levinson and William Link.
He wrote 264 episodes of the CBS series which ran over 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 including the pilot.
For her role on the program, Lansbury was nominated for ten Golden Globes, winning four, earning her the record for the most Golden Globe nominations and wins for Best Actress in a television drama series.
She was also recognized for her work on the hit show with 12 Emmy Award nominations – once again making history for achieving the most Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, despite never winning the award.
The series itself received three Emmy nominations for Outstanding Drama Series, as well as six Golden Globe nominations in the same category, with two major wins.
A year after the program ended, Fischer wrote a TV movie featuring Lansbury’s character Jessica Fletcher titled Murder She Wrote: South By Southwest which aired in November 1997.
The film – which saw Fletcher sidetracked searching for a missing woman who witnessed the murder of a government whistleblower – was Fischer’s final screen credit.
After moving on from television writing he wrote books including Me And Murder, She Wrote and 22 self-published crime novels which were collectively known as the Hollywood Murder Mysteries.
Epic: Fischer co-created Murder, She Wrote with Richard Levinson and William Link as he wrote 264 episodes of the CBS series which ran over 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 including the pilot; Lansbury is pictured in June 1985
For her role on the program, Lansbury was nominated for ten Golden Globes, winning four, earning her the record for the most Golden Globe nominations and wins for Best Actress in a television drama series; Lansbury is pictured in November 1997
His final credit: A year after the program ended, Fischer wrote a TV movie featuring Lansbury’s character Jessica Fletcher titled Murder She Wrote: South By Southwest which aired in November 1997