Bill Geddie, the legendary TV producer known for co-creating ABC’s “The View” and being Barbara Walters’ longtime producer, has died at age 68. His death was reportedly due to coronary-related factors.
Geddie served as executive producer for “The View” for 17 years and was part of the talk show’s launch in 1997. The network staple also served a short stint as the producer of “Tamron Hall” from 2019 to 2020.
The official Twitter account for “The View” posted about his passing on Friday, writing, “He was a pioneer in television and greatly beloved by ‘The View’ family, creating the show with Barbara Walters and serving as its executive producer for 17 years. ‘The View’ wouldn’t exist without Bill Geddie.”
That tweet also included a statement from Geddie’s family, reading, “He was a big deal in TV, but at home he was an even ‘bigger than life’ husband and dad,” the post read.
“The View” will be honoring Geddie on Monday’s show, a representative from ABC told TheWrap.
Current hosts Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin also shared their reactions to Geddie’s passing on social media. Behar noted that Geddie “kept us together and was very loyal to his staff,” adding that she is “forever grateful to him and Barbara for the opportunity to be on ‘The View.’” Hostin referred to Geddie as her “friend” and “mentor”and revealed that the late producer was the first person “to believe that I could be a national talk show host.”
In 2014, Geddie left the daytime series he helped create. Earlier that year, Walters announced her retirement from the series. Many believed that Geddie would depart after Walters, but it was expected he would remain at the least one additional season. Instead, he departed the series in August 2014, only a few months after Walters’ May departure.
Geddie was a partner with Walters’ BarWall Productions for 25 years and was the owner of Bill Geddie Productions. He also coproduced, wrote and directed programs such as the “Barbara Walters Specials” and “The 10 Most Fascinating People.”
