Dallas creator David Jacobs dead at 84: Writer behind iconic soaps including Knots Landing had been battling Alzheimer’s and passed away after complications following series of infections, son said

The creator of Knots Landing, Dallas and Paradise has passed away at the age of 84 after a years-long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

David Jacobs died Sunday afternoon in Burbank, California, at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, his son revealed.

While the showrunner and writer suffered from Alzheimer’s for years, his son Aaron said a series of infections led to his death.

Aaron told Deadline, “He had Alzheimer’s for years and recently had recurrent infections that led to his death.”

He added that David had celebrated his 84th birthday just eight days before his death.

Jacobs was credited with changing American TV forever, as his shows were a staple in nearly all American households during the 1980s.

Dallas, which aired for fourteen seasons and had 357 episodes, was the longest-running TV show at the time.

This year the show celebrated its 45th anniversary.

He boasted that he wrote the first five episodes of Dallas without ever visiting the city.

“I thought, ‘Well, I’ll just write it. I don’t have time to get away, so I’ll just write it very stereotyped — with stereotypes — and then I’ll go visit and pull it back. And then I went to Dallas and realized I had to do it this way.”

“There’s something about Dallas and the people of Dallas that I can only describe as extravagant, but not ostentatious,” he added.

Knots Landing, a Dallas spin-off that he also directed, ran almost as long at 344 episodes.

He also served as an executive producer on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and Homefront, for which he was nominated for two Emmys.

David was born in Baltimore in 1939 to his father Melvin, whom he described as a bookmaker, billiard champion, crooner and songwriter, and his mother Ruther, the woman who “took him off of all that.”

His father worked several jobs that made him miserable and seemed to leave a lasting impression.

He reportedly said, “He went to work every day wearing something he hated. At one point I said, ‘I’m never going to do that. I never go to work hating what I do.’

He became a writer after graduating from Hunter College in New York, where he wrote and edited a number of magazines and books.

He was then asked to rewrite for the CBS show Delvecchio, before getting the chance to rewrite another CBS show called The Blue Knight.

David is survived by his children, Aaron and Molly; his wife Diana; Albyn Hall, his daughter from his previous marriage to Lynne Oliansky; and his two grandchildren Riley and Georgia.

More to follow.