Biography
Television network executive John J. McMahon took on presidential roles at ABC, United Artists Television and Johnny Carson's production company before forming prolific TV movie stable Wilshire Court Productions. Born in Chicago in 1930, John J. McMahon studied at the University of Wisconsin for 12 months before joining the U.S. military to serve in the Korean War where he was awarded two Bronze Stars. After finishing his degree at Northwestern University, McMahon rose through the television industry ranks. He worked as general manager and later vice president of both Detroit's WXYZ-TV and Los Angeles' KABC-TV, two stations operated and owned by the ABC network. McMahon then moved to NBC after being appointed the senior V.P. of talent and programs at their West Coast division where he oversaw shows such as "Little House on the Prairie" (NBC, 1974-1983), "The Facts of Life" (NBC, 1979-1988) and "The Rockford Files" (NBC, 1974-1980). After seven years there, McMahon left to join Rastar Television as the network's president before taking on the same position at Carson Productions Group, the company owned by legendary talk show host Johnny Carson. During his five-year spell there, McMahon was involved in small screen hits such as "John and Yoko: A Love Story" (NBC, 1985) and "TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes" (NBC, 1984-2013) as well as the Oscar-nominated drama "The Big Chill" (1983). In 1985, McMahon was appointed the president of United Artists Television but four years later he founded his own company, Wilshire Court Productions, which made more than 100 different TV movies for the likes of USA Network and the Sci-Fi Channel. McMahon officially retired from the industry in 2010 and nine years later died from prostate cancer at the age of 89.
