Norman Powell Obituary

1934 - 2021 Veteran Hollywood Producer/Director/Network Executive Norman S. Powell passed away on June 16th at the age of 86. His career in television and film spanned six decades. He never retired, and at the time of his passing was working on a sequel to his award winning documentary, "Brothers At War" with partner Jake Rademacher and Executive Producers Gary Sinise and Phil Gurin, as well as writing a soon to be published memoir.The son of Hollywood Golden Age stars Joan Blondell and Dick Powell, Norman graduated from The Lawrenceville School and Cornell University. Soon thereafter, he worked on classic western television shows like "Wanted Dead or Alive" with Steve McQueen, "Gunsmoke" with James Arness and "The Rifleman" with Chuck Connors. He earned Emmy nominations for producing the mini-series, "Washington Behind Closed Doors" and the second season of "24" starring Keifer Sutherland. Some of his other producer credits include "The New Dick Van Dyke" show series, "More Than Friends", starring Rob Reiner and Penny Marshall, "Convict Cowboy" starring Jon Voight, "Black Fox" starring Christopher Reeve, "Lazarus Man" starring Robert Urich, "Orleans" starring Larry Hagman and "The Lot" starring Holland Taylor.During his 13-year tenure as an executive with CBS Television, Norman advanced to Senior Vice President of CBS Entertainment Productions and supervised development and production of more than 80 movies-for-television and 11 series. Some of his most notable credits include acclaimed reality show "Rescue 911", Emmy-winner "Miracle Landing" starring Wayne Rogers, the pilot for "Cagney and Lacey" starring Tyne Daly and Loretta Swit, the pilot for "Wolf" starring Jack Scalia, "Unconquered" starring Peter Coyote and Dermot Mulroney, "The New Twilight Zone" series, "Quarterback Princess" starring Helen Hunt, and "Escape from Iran: The Canadian Caper" written by Lionel Chetwynd.Norman channeled a passion for the US Armed Forces, American life, and American history through documentary filmmaking. He executive-produced and directed the feature length documentary "American Valor", an intimate look at the American heroes who have received the Medal of Honor. He also executive-produced "Darkness at High Noon: The Carl Foreman Documents" in a partnership with Lionel Chetwynd with whom he would create over twelve hours of "National Desk", an award-winning documentary series. With partner Jake Rademacher, and Executive Producer Gary Sinise, Norman produced "Brothers At War", a theatrical feature documentary for Samuel Goldwyn Pictures and Showtime. The sequel, "Brothers After War" is currently in production.Some of the awards and recognitions Norman was most proud to receive include a Telly Award for "American Valor", an Emmy and Producers Guild Award nomination for "24", a Peoples Choice Award for "Rescue 911", an Emmy nomination for "Washington: Behind Closed Doors," Telly Awards for "Politics and Warriors" and "The War on Boys", an AMPIA Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Motion Picture Industry in Alberta, Canada, and a Best Picture Award from the GI Film Festival for "Brothers At War".Norman was a long-time member of the Directors Guild of America and an active member of The Caucus for Producers, Writers & Directors, where he served two terms as Chair. He is also the recipient of The Caucus's Distinguished Service Award and Lifetime Achievement Award.He was a lifelong fitness buff, a sailor, and a commercial pilot with instrument and multi-engine ratings. He is survived by his wife Ellen Levine and their son Matthew Powell, his children by his first marriage, Sandra Espe and Scott Powell, his daughter-in-law Laurie Powell, his sister Ellen Powell, his sister-in-law and brother-in-law Lisa and Kenneth Brownstein, and a loving group of nieces and nephews, a step-grandson and two great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his daughter Stephanie Powell Murphy.Funeral services for Norman Powell will be Friday, June 25th at 12:30 pm at Mount Sinai, Simi Valley, 6150 Mt. Sinai Drive.Charitable donations in his memory may be made to The Gary Sinise Foundation, www.garysinisefoundation.org or The Caucus Foundation, www.caucusfoundation.org