Richard M. Powell; TV, Radio Writer, Guild Executive

Richard M. Powell, 79, radio and television comedy writer and executive of the Writers Guild. Born in Cincinnati, Powell began writing for radio in the mid-1940s and segued into television as it developed. He wrote for such comedians as Bob Hope and Lucille Ball and for the series “The Andy Griffith Show,” “MASH,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Hogan’s Heroes” and “Quincy.” Powell served as president of the Television-Radio Branch of the Writers Guild from 1968 until 1970. Also on the guild’s negotiating committee, craft forum and Negro writers workshop, Powell in 1994 earned the organization’s Morgan Cox Award for service. On Oct. 20 in Los Angeles of prostate cancer.