Phillip M. Goldfarb, Emmy-Winning Producer, Dies at 82

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Phillip M. Goldfarb, the producer and production manager who won two Emmys for L.A. Law and worked on films including I Never Sang for My Father, Taxi Driver and The Last Detail, has died. He was 82.

Goldfarb died April 7 in Los Angeles, his friend Garry Hart, chair and professor of the Department of Cinema and Television Arts at California State Fullerton, announced.

Goldfarb served as a coordinating producer on the first three seasons of L.A. Law. He received Emmy noms for three straight years and won in 1987 and ’89, sharing the honors with series co-creator Steven Bochco, among others.

Goldfarb, who spent seven years as a vice president for Steven Bochco Productions, also helmed a 1989 episode of the acclaimed NBC drama and was an assistant director on films including Truth or Consequences, N.M. (1997).

Born in Brooklyn on Feb. 24, 1940, Goldfarb served as a production assistant on director Paul Newman’s Rachel, Rachel (1968), starring Joanne Woodward.

He then worked as a production manager/unit manager or associate producer/co-producer on such features as Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970), I Never Sang for My Father (1970), The Last Detail (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), Thank God It’s Friday (1978), Ice Castles (1978), My Bodyguard (1980) and Taps (1981).

His TV résumé also included stints on Knots Landing, Monk, The Librarians, NYPD Blue, Southland, House of Lies, Leverage and Roswell.

A DGA member since 1967, Goldfarb served often on guild negotiation committees in contract talks with producers. In 2015, the DGA presented him with its Frank Capra Achievement Award.

Survivors include his wife, Jane; children Fidel, Trace, Jeffrey, Griffin, Alexandra and Harmony; and brother Ken.