Bernie Orenstein, 1931 - 2026

Sitcom writer and producer Bernie Orenstein, 95, died on Sept. 14. From the 1960s-90s, Orenstein worked on both hits and dogs (you can decide which is which): Candid Camera, The Monkees, Hey Landlord, Good Morning World, That Girl, The New Dick Van Dyke Show, Sanford and Son, What’s Happening!!, One of the Boys, Kate & Allie, Chicken Soup, and Cosby. He was writing Sanford and Son when Redd Foxx demanded his older Jewish writers be fired and replaced with serious, socially committed young black writers. After a couple of days, Foxx was running around yelling, “get me my Jews back!” Among Orenstein’s survivors is his wife (since 1979), actress Barbara Rhoades.