Edward J. Lakso

• Name — Edward Joseph Lakso • Born — 20 September 1932 • Birthplace — San Francisco, California • Died — 23 May 2009 • Place of death — Beverly Hills, California, United States • Occupation — Screenwriter, composer, producer • Years Active — 1959–1986 • Organization — Writers Guild of America West, ASCAP • Spouse — Ruth Louise Laird (1953–1963; divorced) Diane H. Haggin (1967–1975; divorced)

Lakso graduated from UCLA with a degree in music and taught briefly in the Los Angeles school district. While attending UCLA, he wrote the screenplay for Operation Dames, a Korean War drama about a USO troop trapped behind enemy lines shot in Topanga Canyon, California. By his early 20's, he was already a small-town star, after high school and college productions gave a hint of his talent and, in 1959, when his film "Road Racers" was shown at the State Theatre over a series of days. While serving in the United States Air Force he wrote a musical with Tommy Oliver called "When you Walked In." (they would later work again on Watergate: the Musical). During Ed's last year in the Air Force, he began writing the 2-Act musical comedy "Renee" which was set in Paris, France. It was named after his mother, whose middle name was "Renee." Lakso co-wrote and scored The Immoral Mr. Teas, an early film by Russ Meyer, and scripted several other films, including The Broken Land (1962; the screen debut for Jack Nicholson), Gentle Giant (1967), and the blaxploitation film Brother on the Run (1973), which he co-directed with Herbert Stock. Lakso is best known for his television work, writing Combat!, Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, Charlie's Angels, The Rockford Files, Name of the Game, Starsky & Hutch, Airwolf, The Fall Guy, and Hawaii Five-O. He also composed music for Charlie's Angels and Dr. Kildare. He was also the line producer on the Charlie's Angels episodic television show, following Barney Rosensweig's brief tenure in that job. Lakso also wrote, produced and directed several musicals. In 1967, he spent a summer in West Yellowstone, writing and producing a melodrama at the Golden Garter Theatre. Later, Tom Piper, for which he wrote the book, music and lyrics was produced at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut, and starred Harve Presnell, Watergate, the Musical written and produced with Tommy Oliver at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta Georgia which starred Gene Barry; and Vincent, the Musical staged at the Las Palmas theater in Hollywood with his wife, Lee Travis, who co-produced and designed the costumes. In 1972, he wrote, directed and produced a film about race car driver Richard Petty, 43 - The Petty Story. It was his first turn at directing a film.

Lakso and his first wife, his home-town sweetheart Ruth Louise (Laird) Lakso, married in 1953 and divorced in 1961. Together they had 2 children, both girls, one of whom worked with him in the 1970s, providing story lines for 9 episodes of Charlie's Angels (under the name "Laurie Lakso Beasley") when he was the line producer. In 1967, Ed married 29-year-old Diane H. Haggin, a model and actress. The marriage lasted until 1974. In 1985, he was married to 37-year-old actress Lee Travis, who was previously married to James Minotto Jr. Lakso's death certificate reports that he died from senile dementia and Parkinson's disease on May 23, 2009, at home in Beverly Hills. His doctor of record at that time, listed on the death certificate as Nazar Al-Bussam, MD, was arrested a year and a half later, in October, 2010 on Federal Drug Trafficking Charges for dispensing narcotics without performing any examination of his "patients." He had been on the DEA's radar since about 2007, when it came to their attention that he was writing prescriptions for a large amount of dangerous drugs. This doctor had been widely reported to have been one of the top 10 illegal dispensers of narcotics in the area. He pled guilty to the charges and was convicted. He received a 7 year prison sentence, which was remarked upon as being too light, but the judge did not want the man to die in prison, as he was 72 years old at the time of his sentencing. The doctor appealed the 7-year sentence, but the sentence was upheld. There is no record, report or claim of Ed Lakso ever taking any illegal drugs whatsoever in his lifetime, however.