Brian Taggert, TV and Film Screenwriter Known for ‘Poltergeist III,’ Dies at 81

He was also known for the “Visiting Hours” and “Emergency!”

Brian Taggert, a prolific TV and film writer whose credits include “Adam-12” and the script for the feature film “Poltergeist III,” died on June 1 at the age of 81.

His cause of death has not been made public, but the Los Angeles County coroner’s officer said Thursday that Taggert died in his home.

Taggert’s career took off in the 1970s with an extensive list of credits that includes “Adam-12,” and “Emergency!” He went on to write for TV films like “The Mark of Zorro,” “The Spell” and “Night Cries,” the television remake of “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane,” and the TV miniseries “V: The Final Battle” and “V” the series, among many others.

He also co-produced “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?”

In the 1980s, he began writing for film, with credits including the 1982 slasher “Visiting Hours” starring Lee Grant as a television journalist who is targeted by a serial killer named Michael Ironside, followed by “Of Unknown Origin,” “The New Kids,”  and 1988’s “Poltergeist III.” Taggert wrote the latter with with Gary Sherman, with whom he also shared writing credits on 1986’s “Wanted: Dead or Alive,” which starred Rutger Hauer.

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