UPDATE: The View addresses the passing of Bill Geddie:
Whoopi Goldberg honors the life of Bill Geddie, #TheView‘s co-creator and one of television’s most well-respected producers, who passed away last week. https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/9Xly5o9jHf
— The View (@TheView) July 24, 2023
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#WhoopiGoldberg, @Sunny, @sarahaines, @alyssafarah, @ananavarro and former co-host @sherrieshepherd look back at their time with #TheView‘s co-creator Bill Geddie who passed away last week. https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/H5D20E0q8C
— The View (@TheView) July 24, 2023
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ORIGINAL:
Awful news to share: Bill Geddie, the iconic daytime television producer who co-created and for 17 years executive produced The View, has died of coronary-related factors, his family told Variety on Friday. He was only 68 years old.
“He was a big deal in TV, but at home he was an even ‘bigger than life’ husband and dad,” said Geddie’s family said in a statement. “He had a genuine love for television and entertainment. He would try everything and did it well — screenwriting, recording podcasts, playing guitar, writing songs, and loved a wide range of music from country to jazz. His favorite band was The Beatles, and he never thought he would have the opportunity to meet one of his personal heroes Paul McCartney in person, but his dream came true. The question wasn’t who did he meet, but rather who didn’t he meet?”
An ABC News spokesperson tells TVNewser that The View will honor Geddie during Monday’s broadcast.
Co-hosts of The View, including Sunny Hostin and Joy Behar, have already chimed in via social media:
My friend & mentor Bill Geddie has transitioned at 68. Bill was the 1st person to believe that I could be a national talk show host. He told me after an audition for The View “you were sitting there watching the show instead of being on the show. Lean in like I know you can.” 💔
— Sunny Hostin (@sunny) July 21, 2023
We are saddened by the sudden death of Bill Geddie.
As a producer, he kept us together and was very loyal to his staff. Bill loved comedy and plenty of laughs not to mention a good cigar. I’m forever grateful to him and Barbara for the opportunity to be on the View. RIP…— Joy Behar (@JoyVBehar) July 21, 2023
It’s with great sadness that we share the news of the passing of ‘The View’ co-creator and one of television’s most well-respected producers, Bill Geddie. pic.twitter.com/7PdPTFF4aW
— The View (@TheView) July 21, 2023
Geddie’s passing comes less than a year after his longtime professional collaborator and friend Barbara Walters passed away, this past December at the age of 93.
In addition to co-creating and executive producing The View, for more than 25 years, Geddie served as executive producer, writer and director of the popular series, The Barbara Walters Specials. He was also behind Walters’ The 10 Most Fascinating People series, both under the BarWall Productions banner.
Before forming his legendary professional partnership with Walters, Geddie was a producer for Good Morning America.
After Walters retired from The View, Geddie didn’t stop working. In August 2016, he produced the heavily hyped Megyn Kelly primetime special on Fox TV, which featured Kelly interviewing then-candidate Donald Trump, Laverne Cox, Michael Douglas and Robert Shapiro in front of a national broadcast audience.
In 2019, he served as the launch executive producer of the Disney|ABC TV syndicated daytime talk show Tamron, hosted by longtime TV news personality Tamron Hall.
Our thoughts are with the Geddie family during this tragic time.