Emmy-winning producer Greenburg dies

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif., Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Emmy winner and video pioneer Earl Greenburg has died in Rancho Mirage, Calif., of complications from melanoma, his family has disclosed.

Greenburg, 61, died Friday at Eisenhower Medical Center surrounded by his son, daughter, brother and his life partner, David Peet, The Palm Springs (Calif.) Desert Sun reported Saturday.

Greenburg was born in Philadelphia and started his career in law in the 1970s with the Pennsylvania attorney general's office. He moved to NBC in 1978 as vice president of compliance and practices, and then to the creative side of the industry in 1981 when he was hired by NBC executive Brandon Tartikoff. In 1990, he was named president of HSN Entertainment, a unit of the cable giant Home Shopping Network, the Desert Sun reported.

Greenburg, a former vice president at NBC and winner of two Emmy Awards as a TV executive, was an innovator of infomercial marketing and chairman of the Palm Springs International Film Festival, said Harold Matzner, chairman emeritus of the festival.

"This is a huge loss. We're never going to see a guy like this in the valley again," said Matzner.