Grant A. Tinker

1925 - 2016

Died Nov. 28, 2016
Grant A. Tinker, former NBC Chairman and CEO, has died at age 90. Mr. Tinker, one of the industry's most beloved executives, passed away in his sleep on Monday night at his home in Bel Air, Calif. The exact cause is not known at this time but his health had been declining in recent months.

His son, John, is married to Southern writer and Times columnist Ronda Rich and lives in Hall County.

"Grant Tinker was one of the dearest blessings in my life," Ronda said. "He was quite taken with our life on the Rondarosa and was always full of questions about life in the South and how different it was from Los Angeles. I often teased him about coming to live with us in Georgia. In my heart, I always hoped he would."

Mr. Tinker, a proud American whose roots stretched back to the Mayflower, was born and raised in Stanford, Conn. A graduate of Dartmouth, a college he attended on the GI Bill after World War II, Mr. Tinker began what would become a legendary career by accident when a friend suggested that NBC was starting a training program. Since he had been job hunting for weeks without success, he decided to apply. He was hired by NBC radio in 1949, eventually leaving for advertising agencies in the days when corporations sponsored programs on the new media of television. In 1962, he left the ad agency business, returning to television and again to NBC in Burbank in the programming then moving over to Fox Television.

With his second wife, Mary Tyler Moore, he formed MTM Productions whose flagship show, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," became critically acclaimed, earning Emmys and Peabodys and creating three spin-off series. Under the steady hand of Mr. Tinker, who always allowed full creative control to the writers, MTM Productions flourished producing ground-breaking shows like "St. Elsewhere" and "Hill Street Blues" and half hour comedies such as "WKRP in Cincinnati," "Rhoda" and "The Bob Newhart Show." At the height of MTM's success, Mr. Tinker left to take on the biggest challenge of his career – transforming the third-place NBC network into a No. 1 powerhouse with shows like "Cosby," "The Golden Girls" and "Facts of Life."

His motto of "First be best then be first" was a simple but heart-felt philosophy that would lead him to earning both the Emmy for Lifetime Achievement and the Peabody Lifetime Achievement. After leaving NBC in 1986, he worked on a joint television venture with the Gannett Company, publisher of USA Today, before retiring completely a couple of years later.

A modest man who often refused the spotlight or compliments, he did accept the credit for reducing the number of tail feathers in the NBC peacock logo from 11 down to the current six. "I thought it was way too busy," he explained. Exactly what would be expected of a simple yet complex man.

Grant was a family name, the first Grant Tinker having been named for General U.S. Grant, but it would become the inspiration for one of television's most memorable characters – Mr. Grant of the Mary Tyler Moore Show. Two of his four children, Mark and John, followed him into television, both winning their own Emmy awards.

Mary Tyler Moore called Mr. Tinker "my professional mentor" and issued a statement that said, in part, "He left an indelible mark on the television industry and its audiences. "My thoughts are with his four children, Mark, Michael, Jodie and John."

Mr. Tinker is also survived by his wife, Brooke, two daughters-in-law, a son-in-law and a number of grandchildren and great grandchildren.