Writer and producer Alan Sacks, popular for his 1970s sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter passed away on August 22, 2024, due to complications from lymphoma at the age of 81. He was first diagnosed with the condition about 22 years ago but experienced several years of remission before the cancer resurfaced.
Born in Brooklyn on December 9, 1942, he began his career in the research department at ABC Television. Alan Sacks was an alumnus of Brooklyn College where he studied broadcasting. After relocating to Los Angeles, he continued his work at ABC as a program executive.
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He co-created Welcome Back, Kotter alongside Gabe Kaplan and Peter Meyerson. In 1991, Alan Sacks created and produced Riders in the Sky, a Saturday morning children's show for CBS. Throughout the 1970s and '80s, he produced several movies, including Women at West Point, Rosie: The Rosemary Clooney Story, and A Cry for Love.
Alan Sacks later transitioned to producing films for the Disney Channel, beginning with Smart House. His 2000 film The Color of Friendship won an Emmy and received accolades from Humanitas and the NAACP. He also served as executive producer for Camp Rock and its sequel, Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, starring Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers.
Additionally, he worked on other Disney Channel projects such as The Other Me, Pixel Perfect, and You Wish. Sacks produced the TV series Jonas and the film Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience and eventually worked for the Jonas Brothers' company.
Alan Sacks is survived by his wife, talent agent Annette van Duren, his daughters Samantha and Shannon, his son Austin, and his sister Jodi.
Alan Sacks' wife said the producer died listening to Tibetan music
In a statement to Deadline, Annette van Duren said that his treatment allowed him to dance at their daughter's wedding in June and walk her down the aisle. However, after that, the chemotherapy lost its effectiveness, and he began hospice care last week.
He passed away peacefully, spending his final days and nights listening to Tibetan music. In an interaction with Little Punk People in 2016, Alan Sacks was asked about his idea of heaven, in response to which he said,
“I think that there is a universal energy. I can’t put my finger on it. I think that there is atoms and energy and a cosmic universe that we are all gonna be part of where there is no suffering, there is no pain, no stress.”
Tributes have been pouring in from renowned people in the film industry. Actor Robert Rusler shared a post on Instagram writing that Alan Sacks would be missed and remembered. He wrote,
“Alan lived his life like a dagger every day since. He was an OG punk rocker. A great family man produced a successful Podcast managed bands, he was an innovator with heavy influences in the music business and scene, he was a teacher and mentor to many at Los Angeles community college.”
In the Little Punk People interview, he mentioned that if he could communicate with the dead, the first people he would talk to would be his parents for a brief conversation.
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