Martin D Tahse / Delaney Martin Tahse

Martin Tahse Culver Military Academy graduate of 1948

Martin Tahse Productions
360 South Burnside Avenue Apartment 5l
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Martin Tahse. Producer, Writer. ( b. Apr 24, 1930 Cincinnati, Ohio - d. Jul 01, 2014 Los Angeles, California

July 1, 2014 Producer Martin Tahse passed away in his sleep on July 1st, 2014. He was 84 years old. Martin began his career in the entertainment world at Culver Military Academy. After graduating he took his talents to New York where he specialized in acquiring and producing national tours of hit Broadway plays and musicals ...

Martin Tahse dies at 84; TV producer of 'ABC Afterschool Specials'

By David Colker
JULY 19, 2014, Los Angles Tomes



1982	Martin Tahse, a stage and television producer best known for his work on "ABC Afterschool Specials" and other programs aimed at young audiences, died July 1 in a nursing home in Los Angeles. The cause was complications of Parkinson's disease, said his friend, Michael Vodde. Tahse was 84.



Tahse was a producer on more than 20 of the "Afterschool" dramas from 1974 to 1989 that touched on a variety of teen problems, including pregnancy, suicide and bullying. They were shows full of teachable moments, but Tahse strove for authenticity in the productions and didn't allow endings in which a parent solved a dilemma.

"The kid had to resolve the problem by him- or herself," he said in a 2006 interview with the Boston Globe.

Some of the episodes he produced featured young actors who went on to have big careers. Rob Lowe was in "Schoolboy Father" (1980), about a teen who finds out his former girlfriend is pregnant with their child. Felicity Huffman (as Flicka Huffman) was in "A Home Run for Love" (1978), about the friendship between a young white boy and an elderly black man.

The "Afterschool Specials" were sometimes mocked in subsequent years for being preachy. But Tahse took them seriously.

"He was passionate about them," said his friend Tom Jordan, who worked with Tahse on an "Afterschool Special" and other shows. That was especially true of the last episode Tahse produced, "Just Tipsy, Honey" (1989), about dealing with a parent with a drinking problem. "He was the child of an alcoholic parent," Jordan said of Tahse. "He knew what it was like to deal with them one way when they were drinking, another when they were not. It was his story."

Tahse won Daytime Emmy awards in 1978 and 1981 for "Afterschool Specials." A 1979 episode, "A Special Gift," about a 14-year-old basketball player who wants to be a ballet dancer, won a Peabody Award. The Peabody organization said the program "took a story in which a personable young boy faced the first great dilemma of his life and brought it to life in such a way that no viewer was spared the agony of helping him make the choice." Tahse was born April 24, 1930, in Cincinnati, Ohio. His early show business career mostly involved theater — Tahse produced numerous road tours of shows that played Broadway, including "Funny Girl," "The Miracle Worker" and "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum."

He wrote a one-woman play based on the 1989 novel by Allan Gurganus, "Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All." When it played the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego in 2003, with Ellen Burstyn in the role, Los Angeles Times critic Don Shirley said the stories from the original novel were so strong, "and Burstyn proves such an adept storyteller, that Tahse's Classics Illustrated-style edition becomes an engaging experience, both funny and sad."

But when the show went to Broadway later that year, it opened and closed the same night.

A more successful project was his producing of the last 13 television episodes of the sweetly funny and warm "Kukla, Fran and Ollie" television puppet show in the early 1970s. The show, which first went on the air in 1947, was largely i mprovised by its creator, puppeteer Burr Tillstrom.

"There was no way I could creatively add to anything he did," Tahse told The Times in 1996. "It was a one-camera show, so if he made a mistake, we would have had to start again at the beginning of the show.

"But in all the shows we did, we didn't stop once."

No information was available on Tahse's survivors.

Martin D. Tahse July 1, 2014 Producer Martin Tahse passed away in his sleep on July 1st, 2014. He was 84 years old.

Martin began his career in the entertainment world at Culver Military Academy.

After graduating he took his talents to New York where he specialized in acquiring and producing national tours of hit Broadway plays and musicals including "Funny Girl," "The Miracle Worker," "Two For The Seesaw," "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum," Arthur Miller's "After The Fall," and eight others.

With his success on stage Martin turned to film. He optioned two books and produced them as After School Specials for ABC. When ABC signed him to a seven-picture contract, he relocated to Los Angeles. His first project was a stage production of Prince Street Players' "Snow White Goes West" at the Mark Taper Forum after which he focused entirely on television movies.

He produced 25 After School Specials for ABC which earned him the title "King of the After School Special". His shows touched millions of viewers as evidenced by the letters he received from around the world. People he had never met often wrote to thank him for his work, all saying that one of his shows had changed their lives.

Martin also produced the last 2 seasons of Kukla, Fran and Ollie for PBS, creating a library of 39 color episodes.

]n 2009 he petitioned to have the United States Postal Service create a Kukla, Fran and Ollie Commemorative Stamp. On the day the stamp was announced he said as enthusiastically as a kid at Christmas "I did it, I did it, they deserve this".

Martin never stopped working and continued developing projects until the end. A producer true to heart, every one of his films came in on time and on budget. His productions have received many awards, including 18 Emmys, First Prize in the San Francisco Film Festival, the Peabody Award, three First Prizes at the American Film Awards, and First, Second, and Third prize in the Chicago Film Festival in the same year (which has never been matched).

He will be missed by many. - - Los Angeles Times on Jul. 17, 2014.

Son of Frederick Wortman Tahse BIRTH 2 Aug 1909 Ohio DEATH 23 Jan 1967 Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio BURIAL Spring Grove Cemetery Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio married Virginia Martin Tahse BIRTH 2 Sep 1909 Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio DEATH 15 Feb 1966 Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio BURIAL Spring Grove Cemetery Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio

Delaney Martin Tahse BIRTH24 Apr 1930 Ohio DEATH 1 Jul 2014

Frederick "Fred" Wortman Tahse Jr Birth 23 Sep 1931 Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati, Ohio Death 2 Jul 2009

Name Robert Lear Tahse tBirth 29 October 1944 Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, Death: Jul 23, 2014 Oxford, Butler County, Ohio,

Alll three boys were graduates of Culver Military Academy

Frazier/Alfers Family Tree Owner: Wendy Alfers 
Delaney Martin Tahse
BIRTH24 Apr 1930 Ohio  
DEATH1 Jul 2014 
Father Frederick Wortman Tahse (1909–1967)  
Mother Caroline Virginia Martin (1909–1966)  
 
1940 United States Federal Census 
Name:	Martin Tahse [Martin Tahoe]
Age:	10
Estimated Birth Year:	abt 1930
Gender:	Male
Race:	White
Birthplace:	Ohio
Marital Status:	Single
Relation to Head of House:	Son
Home in 1940:	Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio
Map of Home in 1940:	Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio
Street:	Silver Leaf
Inferred Residence in 1935:	Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio
Residence in 1935:	Cincinnati
Sheet Number:	9B
Attended School or College:	Yes
Highest Grade Completed:	Elementary school, 4th grade
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members	Age	Relationship
Frederick W Tahse 31	Head
Virginia Tahse 31	Wife
Martin Tahse	10	Son
Frederick Tahse Jr 8	Son

Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current 
Name:	Martin Tahse
Gender:	Male
Death Age:	84
Birth Date:	24 Apr 1930
Birth Place:	Cincinnati
Residence Place:	New York
Death Date:	1 Jul 2014
Death Place:	Los Angeles
Obituary Date:	27 Jul 2014
Obituary Place:	Pottsville, Pennsylvania, USA
Newspaper Title:	Republican and Herald
Spouse: Ellen Burstyn