TV executive behind Ellen, Tyra Banks shows dies

[May 31, 2012]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Jim Paratore, who developed and steered series including "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" and "The Tyra Banks Show," as a Warner Bros. TV executive, has died. He was 59.

Warner Bros. said Wednesday that Paratore suffered a heart attack Tuesday while bicycling in France.

Paratore was Warner Bros. Telepictures Productions president from 1992 to 2006 and executive vice president of Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution since 2002.

He built Telepictures Productions into a top producer of syndicated TV and a supplier of prime-time reality shows including "The Bachelor."

In 2006, Paratore founded TV production company paraMedia, which had an exclusive deal with the Warner Bros. Television Group. He was an executive producer of DeGeneres' talk show and the "TMZ" TV magazine.

He is survived by his wife, Jill Wickert, and his daughter, Martinique Paratore.

[Associated Press]

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