William Link

A television writer, producer, and show creator with a prolific career, William Link had an incredibly long collaboration with fellow writer-producer Richard Levinson, whom Link met at camp during his youth. Link began writing for TV in the late 1950s, and, during the '60s, he wrote for numerous programs, including such notables as "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and "The Fugitive." In '67, he and Levinson created the violent detective thriller "Mannix," starring Mike Connors as Joe Mannix, and the series lasted eight seasons. During that run, he and Levinson teamed up for their first award, co-writing the '70 TV movie drama "My Sweet Charlie," which starred Patty Duke. They won an Emmy for writing, and the film was also nominated for Outstanding Dramatic Program. The following year, Link and Levinson created the detective classic "Columbo," which immortalized its star, Peter Falk. Link wrote and supervised the show over the span of its first eight years during the '70s, and then again during its second run, which began in '89. But Link and Levinson's biggest career success was arguably the crime mystery they created in '84, the Angela Lansbury-starring mega-hit, "Murder, She Wrote," about an amateur sleuth. The series was nominated for dozens of Emmys, including Outstanding Drama Series in '85. William Link died on December 27, 2020 in Los Angeles, CA at the age of 87.