Entertainment legend Martin Starger, known for producing Robert Altman’s Nashville, Peter Bogdanovich’s Mask, and Alan J. Pakula’s Sophie’s Choice, passed away Friday at his Los Angeles Home. He was 92. Following his passing, Starger’s niece Ilene Starger, a New York-based casting director, stated “He was a brilliant, elegant, remarkable man and had wonderful taste in projects” truly emphasizing the impact Starger had upon the world of entertainment.

As the first president of ABC Entertainment, Starger ushered in the groundbreaking miniseries Roots, a televised version of Alex Haley’s iconic novel, portraying to the American public an unfiltered account of America’s brutal history of slavery. Starger also had a major impact in the world of musicals, receiving two Tony nominations for his work on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1987 musical Starlight Express and the 1989 musical comedy Lend Me a Tenor. 

Born in the Bronx in 1932, Starger graduated from City College and served in the U.S. Army before joining the New York-based advertising firm BBDO. In 1969 Starger joined ABC as vice president of programs, and within three years became the first president of ABC Entertainment.

Under Starger’s leadership, ABC succeeded with its Movie of the Week franchise, revolutionary miniseries such as Roots and Rich Man Poor Man, and iconic series such as Happy Days and Marcus Welby, M.D. Following his time at ABC, Starger joined forces with British producer Lew Grade at Marble Arch Productions, with whom he produced the 1985 classic Mask, before starting his own production company, Marstar Productions, where he oversaw the production of telemovies such as The Merchant of Venice and Escape from Sobibor.