Don Bellisario

Don Bellisario
Role:	Producer
BSG Universe:	Original Series
Date of Birth:	August 8, 1935
Date of Death:	Missing required parameter 1=month! ,
Age:	90
Nationality:	USA
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IMDb profile

Donald Paul Bellisario (born August 8, 1935) is an American television producer, screenwriter, and director best known for creating or co-creating seven prime-time series including Magnum, P.I., Quantum Leap, JAG, and the NCIS franchise. On the original Battlestar Galactica television series, Bellisario served as supervising producer, writer, and director from 1978 to 1979, contributing eleven teleplays and directing two episodes including the series finale. His military background as a United States Marine significantly influenced his authentic depiction of military culture on Galactica and throughout his subsequent career.

Early Life and Military Service

Bellisario was born in North Charleroi, Pennsylvania, a coal mining community in Washington County approximately 20 miles from Pittsburgh. His father, Albert Jethro Bellisario, emigrated from Gamberale in Italy's Abruzzo region, while his mother, Dana Lapcevic Bellisario, was Serbian-American. Growing up in western Pennsylvania's coal country, young Donald absorbed war stories from veterans who gathered at his father's tavern, experiences that would profoundly shape his later television work.

After initially enrolling at Penn State University in 1953, Bellisario left to join the United States Marine Corps in January 1955. He served four years until January 1959, attaining the rank of Sergeant (E-5) and earning the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal. Stationed with Marine Air Control Squadron 9 (MACS-9) at Twentynine Palms, California, he lived in a Quonset hut with his young family during this period.

During his Marine service, Bellisario had a brief encounter with Lee Harvey Oswald at a supply shed, an experience that decades later inspired the two-part Quantum Leap episode "Lee Harvey Oswald." Bellisario's military experiences became the foundation of his creative career, as he later wrote in the U.S. Naval Institute's Proceedings: "Almost all of my TV shows, from Airwolf to Quantum Leap to JAG and NCIS, employ military themes. I rely heavily on incidents I either experienced or heard of while a Marine."

Education and Advertising Career

Returning to Penn State after his military discharge, Bellisario completed his Bachelor's Degree in Journalism in 1961, arriving with two small children and limited financial resources. He then worked approximately four years as a reporter at the Centre Daily Times in State College before transitioning to advertising in 1965.

Bellisario's fifteen years in advertising took him from a small Lancaster, Pennsylvania agency to Dallas's Bloom Agency, where he rose to Senior Vice President, Head of Film Production, Creative Director, and Member of the Board. He directed television commercials and created campaigns for clients including Southwest Airlines and Jack's Beer. At age 41, he relocated to Hollywood in 1976 to pursue screenwriting, taking what he later described as his "big gamble."

Television Career

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Bellisario's break came when he submitted a script to Stephen J. Cannell for Baa Baa Black Sheep (later retitled Black Sheep Squadron), the NBC series about Major Greg "Pappy" Boyington's World War II Marine fighter squadron. Hired as story editor, Bellisario was promoted to producer after just five episodes. The series ran from September 1976 to April 1978, producing 37 episodes and launching Bellisario's television career.

Battlestar Galactica

Bellisario joined Battlestar Galactica through his working relationship with creator Glen A. Larson, having previously written for Larson's series Switch. Turner Classic Movies characterized theirs as a "fruitful association" that would continue through Magnum, P.I.

Serving as supervising producer for 17 episodes and producer for 3 additional episodes during the series' single-season run, Bellisario was one of Galactica's two principal writer-producers alongside Larson. His realistic depiction of military culture, drawn from his Marine Corps background, became one of his signature contributions to the series.

Bellisario is credited with creating and naming the Borellian Nomen, the fierce warrior tribe introduced in "The Man with Nine Lives." Characterized by their distinctive honor code and signature laser bola weapon, the Nomen returned in "Baltar's Escape"—both episodes written by Bellisario.

Post-Galactica Success

After Galactica's cancellation, the Bellisario-Larson collaboration continued with Magnum, P.I. (CBS, 1980-1988), which they co-created. The series ran 162 episodes over eight seasons, winning Bellisario the Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America for the 1981 episode "China Doll."

Bellisario then created a succession of hit series:

• Tales of the Gold Monkey (ABC, 1982-1983) — 21 episodes
• Airwolf (CBS 1984-1986; USA Network 1987) — 80 episodes; Bellisario wrote and directed the pilot
• Quantum Leap (NBC, 1989-1993) — 97 episodes over five seasons; earned 5 Emmy Awards and multiple nominations including four for Outstanding Drama Series
• JAG (NBC 1995-1996; CBS 1997-2005) — 227 episodes over ten seasons
• First Monday (CBS, 2002) — Supreme Court drama co-created with Paul Levine
• NCIS (CBS, 2003-present) — Co-created with Don McGill; as of January 2026, the flagship series has aired over 489 episodes across 23 seasons

The NCIS franchise has expanded to seven series including NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans, NCIS: Hawai'i, NCIS: Sydney, NCIS: Origins, and NCIS: Tony & Ziva, surpassing 1,000 total episodes in 2024.

Awards and Recognition

Bellisario received five Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Drama Series—three for Magnum, P.I. (1982-1984) and two for Quantum Leap (1991-1992). His production company, Belisarius Productions (named for the Roman general Flavius Belisarius, an Italian variant of his surname), has produced all his series since 1980.

Major recognitions include:

• Hollywood Walk of Fame Star (March 2, 2004) — located at 7080 Hollywood Boulevard
• Edgar Allan Poe Award (1981) — Mystery Writers of America
• Producer of the Year (2001) — Caucus for Producers, Writers & Directors
• Marine Corps Scholarship Fund Globe and Anchor Award (2002)
• UCLA Neurosurgery Visionary Award (October 27, 2016)

Penn State University named Bellisario a Distinguished Alumnus in 2001 and, following a $30 million gift, renamed its journalism school the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications on April 21, 2017.

Personal Life

Bellisario has been married four times and has eight children. His children include actress Troian Bellisario (Pretty Little Liars), producer David Bellisario (1957-2020, who worked on NCIS: Los Angeles), and producers Julie Bellisario-Watson and Michael Bellisario, who have worked on his various series. His current wife Vivienne Murray has two sons from a previous marriage: actor Sean Murray, who has played Timothy McGee on NCIS since 2003, and Chad W. Murray, a producer on NCIS.

Bellisario divides his time between Montecito, California and Sydney, Australia. He celebrated his 90th birthday on August 10, 2025 at a party attended by stars from across his productions.

Writer credits for "Battlestar Galactica"

• Season 1:
  • Lost Planet of the Gods, Part I
  • Lost Planet of the Gods, Part II
  • The Lost Warrior
  • The Long Patrol
  • The Gun on Ice Planet Zero, Part I
  • The Gun on Ice Planet Zero, Part II
  • The Young Lords
  • The Man with Nine Lives
  • Murder on the Rising Star
  • Baltar's Escape
  • The Hand of God

See also: Category:Episodes written by Donald Bellisario

Director credits for "Battlestar Galactica"

• Season 1:
  • The Young Lords
  • The Hand of God

See also: Category:Episodes directed by Donald Bellisario

Notes

• Bellisario was responsible for naming the Borellian Nomen.
• Several actors who worked with Bellisario on Galactica became recurring members of his later productions, including Larry Manetti (who later became a regular on Magnum, P.I.) and Jeff MacKay.
• Television historians have noted conceptual similarities between the Galactica episode "Experiment in Terra"—where Apollo appears as another person with an invisible companion—and Quantum Leap's premise, though Bellisario has stated he does not remember the episode and that it was not the direct inspiration for the later series.
• After Galactica's cancellation, Bellisario and Glen A. Larson were reportedly tasked with developing a Battlestar project involving time travel to correct Earth's history; budget constraints forced them toward Galactica 1980 instead, though Bellisario later revisited the time travel concept when creating Quantum Leap.

References

Further reading

• Carter, Bill (October 25, 2005). "Behind a Quiet Little Hit, a Reliable Hit Maker". The New York Times. Vol. 155, no. 53378. pp. E1–E7. About Donald P. Bellisario.

External links

• Donald P. Bellisario at the Internet Movie Database

• Television Academy Interview
• Pennsylvania Center for the Book Biography