Howard Schultz, veteran producer of unscripted TV including ‘Extreme Makeover,’ dead at 61

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Howard Schultz, a veteran producer of unscripted TV whose credits include the long-running reality program “Extreme Makeover,” has died. He was 61.

Schultz died unexpectedly Monday while vacationing with his family in Hawaii, according to his publicist, Zach Rosenfield. The cause of death was not reported.

As the CEO of Lighthearted Entertainment, Schultz developed and produced such series as “Are You the One?” for MTV and “Dating Naked” for VH1.

Past series include “Jones & Jury,” ”The George & Alana Show” and, in 1991, “Studs,” which gave birth to a new TV genre known as “relationship shows.”

One of Schultz’s biggest successes was “Extreme Makeover,” which premiered on ABC in 2002 and aired for four seasons.