Producer Bill Finnegan dies at 80

Projects included 'Baker Boys,' 'Hawaii Five-O'

By PAT SAPERSTEIN

Bill Finnegan, who produced films including "The Fabulous Baker Boys" and numerous TV shows including "Hawaii Five-O," died of Parkinson's disease Nov. 28 in Sag Harbor, N.Y. He was 80.

Emmy-nominated five times, Finnegan also worked on "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." and "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd."

Finnegan grew up in Escanaba, Mich., and started his career as a news writer, working the night shift at AP in New York, after which he would walk down the street to CBS Radio where he worked the day shift.

Shortly after the birth of his first child, he moved his family to Los Angeles, where he landed a job in television and worked his way up to production executive, eventually becoming a producer and founder of Finnegan/Pinchuk Prods., in partnership with his wife, Patricia Finnegan, and former CAA agent Sheldon Pinchuk.

Finnegan was producer of "The Dollmaker," starring Jane Fonda, which won a Humanitas prize for the writers. His other feature credits include "Reality Bites," "White Palace" and "North Shore." For TV, he produced telefilms and miniseries such as "Gore Vidal's Lincoln," "The Atlanta Child Murders," "The Ordeal of Patty Hearst," "Amos" with Kirk Douglas, "World War II" with Rock Hudson and "This Child Is Mine." He also served as production executive on projects including "Bobby Deerfield."

He is survived by his wife, Patricia; sons William, a writer at the New Yorker, Michael, a Los Angeles Times reporter, and Kevin; a daughter, Colleen; three grandchildren and a brother.