Rick Ludwin, former NBC executive, died Nov. 10 in Los Angeles. He was 71. Ludwin was executive VP, late night and primetime series at NBC.
Cleveland.com reported that he died following a brief illness, but did not specify the cause of death.
Ludwin was an early champion of The Seinfeld Chronicles, the comedy pilot that became Seinfeld. He oversaw NBC late night during the 2010 Tonight Show battle between Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien, reported Cleveland.com, backing O’Brien.
He left the network in 2012 after 30 years at NBC.
Ludwin was born in Cleveland and attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He got his start in television in 1968 as the host of Studio 14, a talk show on Miami University’s WPDT, according to Cleveland.com.
He donated Seinfeld scripts and photos to Miami University’s King Library, and the university responded by naming its TV studio after him.
