Bernie Orenstein, a television comedy writer and producer with a four-decade career, died on September 14 at the age of 95, according to his family.
Orenstein frequently collaborated with his creative partner Saul Turteltaub on numerous television comedies spanning from the 1970s onward. Their collaborative credits included “The New Dick Van Dyke Show,” a 1970s continuation of the original series, as well as “That Girl,” “The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show,” “Kate & Allie,” “What’s Happening!!,” “Cosby,” and “Sanford and Son.” Throughout his professional tenure, Orenstein worked alongside entertainment figures such as Joan Rivers, Dean Martin, Judy Garland, Dick Van Dyke, Marlo Thomas, and Bing Crosby. He previously recounted that “Sanford and Son” star Redd Foxx was protective of the production, particularly regarding the contributions of what Foxx characterized as “the two white Jewish guys writing a Black show.”
Beyond his work in television production, Orenstein served as a mentor and educator at Long Island University Brooklyn’s TV Writers Studio MFA program, where he guided emerging writers and producers. In a 2016 interview with the Television Academy Foundation, Orenstein reflected that he took the greatest pride in the entirety of his professional output. When asked about his legacy, he expressed a desire to be remembered “by the body of work and the fact that I never hurt anybody.”
Orenstein was born in Toronto in 1931 and later relocated to New York City, where he began his career writing for the reality series “Candid Camera.” He subsequently worked on “The Hollywood Palace” before establishing his partnership with Turteltaub. He is survived by his wife Barbara Rhoades Orenstein; four children: Lisa, Barbara, Jenny, and Alec; eight grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
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