Paul Junger Witt

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Paul Junger Witt, the prolific TV producer behind “The Golden Girls,” “The Partridge Family” and “Soap,” died at age 77, a spokeswoman said.

Witt died at his Los Angeles-area home after battling cancer, spokeswoman Pam Golum said.

He worked at Columbia Pictures before joining comedian-actor Danny Thomas’ production company in 1973, where he and Thomas’ son, Tony, teamed up.

In 1975, Witt and Tony Thomas formed a production company that later expanded to include writer-producer Susan Harris, who created “The Golden Girls,” the hit 1985-92 series starring Bea Arthur, Betty White and Rue McClanahan.

Witt and Harris married in 1983.

Witt’s other credits include the TV series “Benson,” “Empty Nest,” “Blossom” and the TV movie “Brian’s Song.” He produced big-screen films including “Dead Poets Society,” “Three Kings,” “Insomnia” and “A Better Life.”

Witt prized “A Better Life,” about a single father living in the country illegally whose livelihood and freedom are put at risk by the theft of his truck. Mexican film star Demian Bichir received an Oscar nomination for the role. In a 2011 interview with The Associated Press, Witt said the story was inspired by a neighbor’s gardener, whose truck was stolen but who declined to report it out of fear of arrest and deportation.