PASSINGS / Richard Lewis

Richard Lewis, 89, a TV producer who brought to the small screen such 1950s series as “Wagon Train” and “M Squad,” died Monday of complications from melanoma at his home in Somers, N.Y., according to his son Jeffrey.

As a producer and executive producer for Revue Productions and then Universal Television, Lewis worked on “M Squad,” a police drama starring Lee Marvin that ran from 1957 to 1960, and “Wagon Train,” a western anthology featuring Ward Bond and John McIntire that aired from 1957 to 1965.

He also produced the pilot episode of “Leave It to Beaver” in 1957 and worked on such anthology TV series as “General Electric Theater,” “Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre” and “Studio 57.”

Lewis was among a group of TV executives who testified in 1961 about the depiction of violence on TV before a Senate subcommittee investigating juvenile delinquency.

According to contemporary news reports, Lewis defended the Revue TV programs and drew parallels with ancient Greek tragedies and Shakespeare’s plays, saying children “would sooner emulate the hero who wins than the villain who loses.”

Lewis was born in New York City on Jan. 2, 1920. After graduating from Yale University in 1940, he got his start working on radio programs before moving to television.