He also produced more than 140 television movies. Among the most notable: ``Death Sentence" (1974), Nick Nolte's first starring role; ``The Boy in the Plastic Bubble" (1976), John Travolta's first dramatic role; and ``The Best Little Girl in the World" (1981), which starred Jennifer Jason Leigh.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Mr. Spelling provided series and movies exclusively for ABC, and he is credited for the network's rise to major status. Jokesters referred to it as ``The Aaron Broadcasting Company."
Success was not without its thorns. Critics denounced Mr. Spelling for fostering fluff and nighttime soap operas. He called his shows ``mind candy"; critics referred to them as ``mindless candy."
``The knocks by the critics bother you," he admitted in a 1986 interview with the Associated Press.
``But you have a choice of proving yourself to 300 critics or 30 million fans. You have to make a choice. I think you're also categorized by the critics. If you do something good, they almost don't want to like it."
He liked to cite some of his more creditable achievements, like ``Family" (1976-80), a drama about a middle-class family, and ``The Best Little Girl in the World."
Among his prestige films for TV: ``Day One" (1988), about an atomic blast in middle America; ``And the Band Played On" (1992), based on Randy Shilts's book about the AIDS crisis.
Mr. Spelling had arrived in Hollywood virtually penniless in the early 1950s. By the 1980s, Forbes magazine estimated his wealth at $300 million. He enjoyed his status, working in a Hollywood office larger than those of golden-era moguls. (``I'm slightly claustrophobic," he explained.) He gifted his second wife, Candy, with a 40-carat diamond ring.
The Spellings' most publicized extravagance was their 56,500-square-foot French chateau in Holmby Hills.
The couple bought the former Bing Crosby estate for $10 million. It was leveled, along with two other houses. Construction cost was estimated at $12 million.
