The Bucks County-raised masterful writer behind quintessential television shows such as ‘Star Trek’, ABC’s ‘Batman’, ‘Hawaii Five-O‘, and ‘Barnaby Jones,’ Stephen Kandel, has passed away from natural causes at 96 years old, writes Mike Barnes for The Hollywood Reporter.  

In addition to his lengthy resume of TV show-writing credits, Kandel had a stake in screenwriting, behind works such as “Battle of the Coral Sea” (1959).  

But Kandel’s creative talents expanded beyond writing, also co-creating the ABC drama ‘Iron Horse’ (1966-68), starring prolific TV actor Dale Robertson.  

Born in New York in 1927, Kandel was raised in Bucks County and Los Angeles and went on to graduate high school at age 16. Kandel served in Germany for the U.S. Army in World War II and began writing screenplays following his graduation from Dartmouth College. 

The power of the pen ran in the family, as his father, Aben Kandel, was also a screenwriter, contributing to films such as ‘Manhattan Moon’ (1935) and ‘I Was a Teenage Werewolf’ (1940), and his late sister, Lenore Kandel was a Beat Generation Poet.  

Kandel won a Humanitas Award for 1979’s NBC telefim ‘Son-Rise: A Miracle of Love’ and wrote a book in his retirement.  

Read more about the Bucks County-raised television and screenwriter Stephen Kandel’s life in The Hollywood Reporter.