David Jacobs, who was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1936, was best known for establishing the popular soap opera Dallas, which aired from 1978 to 1991 for a total of 12 seasons. Later, in 2012, a relaunch of Dallas began broadcasting until 2014.
Dallas and Knots Landing originator David Jacobs has passed away at the age of 84.
Sunday at the Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California, Jacobs died of complications from a series of infections, his son Aaron confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday. The news source also reported that the writer and producer had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
David Jacobs worked on a movie treatment about four couples residing in California and presented it to CBS with development executive Michael Filerman at Lorimar Productions, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
After the network requested a drama for their contracted actress Linda Evans, Jacobs developed an additional treatment for a series he termed “Untitled Linda Evans Project” — which, according to the outlet, Filerman renamed “Dallas” before submitting. The show was taken up, and Dallas, starring Larry Hagman as J.R. Ewing, debuted on television.
According to the BBC, Jacobs wrote the first five episodes of Dallas before visiting the city of Dallas. In 2021, the writer and producer discussed his early ambitions in his career. “I had such arrogance that I believed I could write my way out of anything,” Jacobs told the Daily Beast in 2021.
“From 1964 to 2004, not a single year passed in which I did not publish or produce something. “And yes, I do wonder how the hell I did it when I look back,” he added.
The success of Dallas led to the creation of Knots Landing, which debuted a year later. The final season of the latter series aired in 1993.
David Jacobs began his career as a writer in 1968 with the publication of “Master Painters of the Renaissance” after completing art studies at the Maryland Institute College of Art and an art history master’s degree at Hunter College in New York, according to Variety.
After the triumph of Dallas, Jacobs wrote for several other television programs, including Dallas: The Early Years, Bodies of Evidence, and Four Corners. He received two Emmy nominations for the 1990s series he executive produced, Homefront.
The producer also served as executive producer on several other projects, including the popular ABC series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and the 2005 television film Knots Landing Reunion: Together Again. In the late 1980s, he co-created the Western series Paradise, starring Robert Porter.
Jacobs is survived by his wife Diana and their two children Aaron and Molly, as well as his daughter Albyn Hall from his first marriage to Lynn Oliansky and his grandchildren Georgia and Riley.
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