A&E Television Networks executive was 63

Deirdre “Didi” O’Hearn, who worked as an executive at A&E Television Networks, died of lung cancer on August 12 at a hospice in St. Augustine, Florida. She was 63.

O’Hearn, a longtime cable executive who also worked for WeTV and other channels, served as senior vice president of programming and development for the Food Network and Cooking Channel from 2014 to 2017, where she oversaw existing programming and the creation of new shows .

The director was nominated for six Emmys throughout her career and 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 followed Simmons, his wife Shannon Tweed and their two children.

O’Hearn spent 16 years at the network and served as executive producer and supervising producer of the series “Biography,” where she produced episodes exploring the lives of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mike Tyson, Sylvester Stallone, Val Kilmer and many more . more. While at the network, she was program director for the Biography Channel and producer of programming for the A&E Network and History Channel.

She served as vice president of development and talent at WeTV, creating original series and specials. During her time there, she helped develop shows like “Mary Mary,” “Kendra on Top,” and “LA Hair.” Before joining WeTV, O’Hearn was vice president of nonfiction media producer Darlow Smithson Productions.

O’Hearn is survived by her husband Richard, her children Ian and Michael, as well as her four brothers William, Robert, Michael and Tierney. Donations can be made to the NYU Langone Health Perlmutter Cancer Center.