Richard L. O’Connor, the Emmy-winning producer and longtime production executive behind major studio and TV longform credits, has died at 96. His family said he died July 22, 2026, in Palm Desert, California. A funeral mass is set for 1 p.m. Aug. 8 at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Mendocino. Memorial donations may go to the Motion Picture & Television Fund or the Marine Corps League Foundation.
The Emmy that put his name on the plaque
Per the Television Academy, O’Connor won the 1990 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Program as producer of NBC’s A Mother’s Courage: The Mary Thomas Story, starring Alfre Woodard. He also carried a 1985 nomination for Outstanding Drama/Comedy Special (NBC).
That children’s Emmy is the clean career headline. The rest of the résumé is the quieter job that keeps movies and miniseries standing: logistics, budgets, and production executive muscle.
Feature credits that still circulate
As executive in charge of production (and related production-executive roles), O’Connor’s feature slate includes titles audiences still rewatch:
| Film | Year | Role (career reports / databases) |
|---|---|---|
| *Across 110th Street* | 1972 | Executive in charge of production |
| *Hickey & Boggs* | 1972 | Executive in charge of production |
| *The Muppet Movie* | 1979 | Executive in charge of production |
| *On Golden Pond* | 1981 | Executive in charge of production |
| *Raise the Titanic* | 1980 | Production executive credits in career tallies |
| *Borderline* | 1980 | Executive in charge of production |
| *Barbarosa* | 1982 | Career credit lists |
On Golden Pond remains the prestige spike: Mark Rydell’s film with Henry Fonda, Katharine Hepburn, and Jane Fonda. The Muppet Movie is the Jim Henson pop-culture spike. Both sat on the same kind of production-executive desk work that never gets a poster credit the public notices.
TV longform, then Mendocino quiet
Beyond the Emmy telefilm, O’Connor’s producing credits include Distant Thunder (1988) and a run of network miniseries and movies of the week: Fatal Vision, A Death in California, Tom Clancy’s OP Center, Amerika, and 1991’s Wild Texas Wind with Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson.
Born Richard Lynn O’Connor in San Francisco on Jan. 7, 1930, with twin brother Don, he grew up partly on the Mendocino coast where the family home doubled as a schoolhouse. After high school in Richmond, California, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War (1950–51), then started in the mailroom at CBS Television City before moving into film and TV business logistics in the early 1970s.
After retirement he lived more than 20 years in Caspar, California.
Survivors
Survivors include his fourth wife, Brona; daughters Kathleen, Triglia, and Karen; stepchildren Kate, Marc, and Matt; grandchildren Rachael, Kayleigh, Seth, and Joshua; great-grandchildren Jessica and Carter; and great-great-granddaughter Bayleigh.
Confirmed facts
| Fact | Source |
|---|---|
| Died July 22, 2026, Palm Desert, age 96 | Family announcement |
| 1990 Emmy, Outstanding Children’s Program | [Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/richard-l-oconnor) |
| 1985 Drama/Comedy Special Emmy nomination | Television Academy |
| *Muppet Movie* / *On Golden Pond* production executive credits | Feature credit databases / career tallies |
O’Connor’s public footprint was never a showrunner brand. It was the older Hollywood job title that makes the shoot possible: executive in charge of production. The Emmy and the Fonda/Hepburn/Henson titles are how that work still shows up in the culture.
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