Woody Fraser, a highly influential producer, creator, and director known for his work on iconic variety and news programs like The Mike Douglas Show and Good Morning America, passed away at the age of 90 on Saturday.
Fraser received numerous Daytime Emmy nominations throughout his career for his contributions to shows such as The Mike Douglas Show, GMA, The Dick Cavett Show, and The Richard Simmons Show.
In 1982, he won an Emmy for his work on The Richard Simmons Show, an award he shared with his wife, Noreen Fraser, who was also a producer and passed away in 2017 from breast cancer.
Fraser is widely credited with making Good Morning America the leading morning news and entertainment program during his time as the show’s first executive producer. The news of his death was later confirmed by his daughter, Stacy.
Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas and a colleague and close friend of Fraser, also confirmed the death on social media, sharing, “Woody Fraser was EP of my @FoxNews TV show & a TV pioneer.
He was the creator of many TV shows over 7 decades. He gave Roger Ailes his first TV job. I loved the guy. He was my mentor in TV. He died this weekend at the age of 90. He was a legend.”
Fraser’s career began in 1960 when he started as a director for NBC. That same year, he met Mike Douglas and created the co-host format, launching The Mike Douglas Show, one of the longest-running and most successful talk shows in TV history.
From 1966 to 1973, Fraser managed an extraordinary 32.5 hours of programming each week, with simultaneous airings of The Mike Douglas Show, The Dick Cavett Show, The Della Reese Show, The Bill Russell Show, and Kid Talk.
Over his 50-year career in Hollywood, Fraser was also behind numerous other programs, including On Trial, What Would You Do?, The Family Challenge, That’s Incredible!, The Home Show, Home & Family, America Alive, People Do the Craziest Things, Life’s Most Embarrassing Moments, and many others.
In more recent years, Fraser was involved in McEnroe for CNBC and Huckabee on Fox News. He also played a key role in supporting his wife’s Stand Up to Cancer telethons, which brought together ABC, NBC, and CBS to raise over $100 million for cancer research and awareness.
In 2018, Fraser faced a wrongful termination and sexual harassment lawsuit from two former employees of Home & Family, who claimed they were unjustly dismissed by Hallmark Channel’s parent company, Crown Media Family Networks. Fraser was eventually removed from the show after several female staffers brought their long-standing complaints to attorney Lisa Bloom.
