Deidre “Deedee” O'Hearn, an executive at A&E Television Networks, died on August 12 at a nursing home in St. Augustine, Florida, of lung cancer. She was 63.
O'Hearn, a cable executive who also worked at WeTV and other channels, served as senior vice president of programming and development at Food Network and Cooking Channel from 2014 to 2017, overseeing existing programming and creating new shows.
Nominated for six Emmy Awards throughout her career, the executive served as vice president of nonfiction and alternative programming at A&E Television Networks. There, she developed “Gene Simmons Family Jewels,” a reality series that follows the lives of Simmons, his wife Shannon Tweed, and their two children.
O'Hearn has worked at the network for 16 years, serving as executive producer and supervising producer on the series “Biography,” where she produced episodes exploring the lives of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mike Tyson, Sylvester Stallone, Val Kilmer, and many others. While at the network, she served as programming director for the Biography Channel as well as programming producer for A&E Network and the History Channel.
She served as Vice President of Development and Talent at WeTV, creating original series and specials. During her tenure there, she helped develop shows such as “Mary Mary,” “Kendra on Top,” and “LA Hair.” Prior to WeTV, O’Hearn served as Vice President of Nonfiction Media Production at Darlow Smithson Productions.
O'Hearn is survived by her husband, Richard, and two sons, Ian and Michael, as well as her four brothers, William, Robert, Michael and Tierney. Donations may be made to NYU Langone Health's Perlmutter Cancer Center.
