Prolific screen and television writer John Furia Jr., who penned popular series including “Bonanza,” ”The Waltons” and “Hawaii Five-O” among many others, has died. He was 79.
The Writers Guild of America West disclosed Furia’s death in a statement Friday. The cause and exact time of his death could not immediately be determined.
Furia, a former president of the WGAW, was a longtime advocate for Hollywood writers. He was also a founding chairman of the Writing for Screen and Television Division at the University of Southern California’s film school and was a full professor there teaching screen and television writing.
“John’s character and dignity touched and influenced generations of writers from the founders of the Guild itself to the newest of student-associates,” said WGAW President Patric M. Verrone in a statement. “For those of us who relied on his knowledge and his counsel, John was more than an eminence grise; he was pure eminence.”
Born in 1929, Furia started his entertainment career singing with dance bands in New York City, but he soon discovered the fledgling television industry. He moved to California where he became one of Hollywood’s most productive dramatists, working for both major studios and networks.
He wrote for series such as “Bonanza,” ”The Twilight Zone,” ”Dr. Kildare,” ”Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre,” ”Hawaii Five-O,” ”The Waltons” and “Kung Fu,” as well as wrote or produced numerous movies-of-the-week.
Furia’s screen credits include “The Singing Nun” starring Debbie Reynolds and Greer Garson, in addition to executive producing films in Mexico, France, Canada, Spain, Croatia and Kenya.
“John had an old-world dignity about him that seems in such short supply in our world today,” Jack Epps, Jr., chair of USC’s School of Cinematic Arts Writing for Screen and Television Division, said in a statement.
Supreme Court Allows Multibillion-Dollar Class Action Lawsuit To Proceed Against Meta
The Supreme Court is allowing a multibillion-dollar class action investors' lawsuit to proceed against Facebook parent Meta, stemming from the privacy scandal involving the Cambridge Analytica political consulting firm.
The justices heard arguments in November in Meta's bid to shut down the lawsuit. On Friday, they decided that they were wrong to take up the case in the first place.
The high court dismissed the company's appeal, leaving in place an appellate ruling allowing the case to go forward.
Investors allege that Meta did not fully disclose the risks that Facebook users' personal information would be misused by Cambridge Analytica, a firm that supported Donald Trump 's first successful Republican presidential campaign in 2016.
Inadequacy of the disclosures led to two significant price drops in the price of the company's shares in 2018, after the public learned about the extent of the privacy scandal, the investors say.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone said the company was disappointed by the court's action. "The plaintiff's claims are baseless and we will continue to defend ourselves as this case is considered by the District Court," Stone said in an emailed statement.
Meta already has paid a $5.1 billion fine and reached a $725 million privacy settlement with users.
Cambridge Analytica had ties to Trump political strategist Steve Bannon. It had paid a Facebook app developer for access to the personal information of about 87 million Facebook users. That data was then used to target U.S. voters during the 2016 campaign.
The lawsuit is one of two high court cases involving class-action lawsuits against tech companies. The justices also are wrestling with whether to shut down a class action against Nvidia.... Read More