Through much of my formative Oscar viewing years, Gil Cates produced the Academy Awards telecast (14 of the 22 years I’ve watched the Oscars), so his passing is something of an important event for me. I may not have loved many of his choices, but the best telecasts were frequently under his wizened hand. He will be missed.

Hollywood Reporter – He produced a record 14 Academy Awards telecasts in the span of 18 years.

Gilbert Cates, who produced a record 14 Oscar telecasts during an 18-year span, has died, TMZ reported Tuesday. He was 77; his body was reportedly discovered in a parking lot at UCLA. A spokesperson for the Academy could not confirm the report early Tuesday.

His TV subject matter was often bold for the times: He directed Consenting Adult in 1984, which focused on homosexuality, and he directed Do You Know the Muffin Man? in 1989, which centered on child molestation. He received Emmy nominations for best director for both telefilms.

Similarly, Cates was credited with shaking up the status quo of the Oscar telecasts, bringing in such new-blood hosts as Billy Crystal, Steve Martin, Chris Rock, Whoopi Goldberg and David Letterman. His 14 Oscar telecasts came during the years 1990-2008, and he won an Emmy for the 1991 show.