Bob Rosenfarb, the writer-producer behind 1990s hit sitcoms Who’s The Boss? and Step By Step, died Tuesday, March 3, his family has announced. He was 74.
A cause and place of death were not immediately available. His family requests donations in his memory be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
Launching his TV writing career with a 1982 episode of Archie Bunker’s Place, Rosenfarb two years later would write 13 episodes of the CBS Saturday morning cartoon series The Get Along Gang. The same year he wrote episodes of the animated Heathcliff & the Catillac Cats series and, the following year, an episode of The Wuzzles.
In 1985 he wrote an episode of NBC’s hit medical drama St. Elsewhere, soon following up with scripts for Cagney & Lacey, The Golden Girls and The Ellen Burstyn Show. From 1987-1989 he was a writer and story editor for the ABC sitcom Head of the Class starring Howard Hesseman.
Watch on Deadline
From 1990-1992 Rosenfarb joined the final two seasons of the Tony Danza-Judith Light ABC sitcom Who’s The Boss as a writer and supervising producer. In ’92 he pivoted to ABC’s Patrick Duffy-Suzanne Somers sitcom Step By Step as a writer and in various producing capacities.
Born Robert Martin Rosenfarb in Brooklyn on September 16, 1951, Rosenfarb moved to Los Angeles in 1978 and eventually sold the script to the All In The Family spin-off Archie Bunker’s Place.
“In his twenties, Bob followed his dream west to Los Angeles, determined to make his mark as a television writer,” the family writes. “Through talent, persistence, and a gift for sharp, heartfelt comedy, he built a successful career in Hollywood…His work brought laughter into countless homes and reflected his instinct for character, timing, and heart. Bob was proud of the stories he helped tell and the friendships he formed throughout his decades in the industry.”
Rosenfarb is survived by sister Beth Savino; brother-in-law Jim Savino; nephew Jesse Dorfman; and niece Rebecca Dorfman.
Services are planned at Mount Sinai Hollywood Hills on Friday, March 6, 11 a.m./PT.
Leave a Reply