Robert F. O’Neill, 86; TV producer won Emmy for ‘Columbo’ episode

Robert F. O’Neill, 86, a longtime television producer who won an Emmy Award in 1974 for a “Columbo” episode that was part of “The NBC Mystery Movie” series, died from complications of colon cancer Oct. 23 at his home in West Hills, publicist Frank Tobin said.

After starting at Desilu Productions and moving to Universal Television in the 1960s, O’Neill was a producer for numerous episodes of “Columbo,” “Mission: Impossible,” “The Sixth Sense,” “Quincy, M.E.” and “Murder, She Wrote.” He also produced TV movies and miniseries, including “Double Indemnity,” “Arthur Hailey’s Wheels” and Irwin Shaw’s “Evening in Byzantium.”

Born in Hollywood on May 21, 1921, O’Neill graduated from Loyola University.