Former Walt Disney TV President Bill Brademan Dies at 87

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Bill Brademan, the former president of Walt Disney Television, died on Wednesday at his home in Sherman Oaks, Calif. The Emmy-winning producer was 87.


Brademan led Disney Television in the 1980s after working at ABC and 20th Century Fox TV, where he served as vice president of development at both networks. Earlier in his career, he was also vice president at MCA and executive vice president of creative affairs at QM Productions. He supervised production on more than 75 network series, TV movies and mini-series during his time as a TV executive.


After leaving Disney, Brademan formed production company Brademan/Self Productions, which produced TV movies such as “Broken Vows,” starring Tommy Lee Jones and “The Incident” starring Walter Matthau. He won an Emmy for the latter in 1990 for best comedy/drama special.


Born in Minneapolis, Minn., the producer served as an aerial gunner in the Korean War before starting his career in Hollywood, which he broke into with a job in Columbia Pictures’ mail room while he was on vacation in Los Angeles. He worked his way up to become a casting director at Columbia and NBC, casting more than 50 films. Brademan was also a member of the Writers Guild.


Brademan was married to his wife of 49 years, Carlotta Smith, until her death in 2014. His eldest daughter, Sabrina, died in 2000 of complications of Type I Diabetes. He is survived by his daughter, Hillary Del Regno and son-in-law Hugh Del Regno; his brother and sister-in-law, Wayne and Carla Brademan and their children, and various grandchildren.