Deirdre “Didi” O’Hearn, a veteran cable executive who spent 16 years at A&E Television Networks and also worked for WeTV and the Food Network, among other channels, died Monday. She was 63.
O’Hearn, nominated for six Emmys and a winner of five Golden Eagle Awards, died in hospice care in St. Augustine, Florida, after a long battle with lung cancer, a publicist announced.
Most recently, O’Hearn served as senior vp programming and development for the Food Network and Cooking Channel from 2014-17. In that role, she oversaw existing programming slates, both daytime and primetime, and the creation of new shows.
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“In cable, we’re all looking for hits,” O’Hearn told THR after she got the job. “You’ve got to be a destination. You’ve got to be on the map. You’ve got to be the place that viewers tune in to, and a hit just puts you on the map. It also allows you to build out that night. I don’t think there is any cable programmer who isn’t worried about getting the hits.”
As vp nonfiction and alternative programming at A&E Television Networks, O’Hearn developed and launched Gene Simmons Family Jewels, which ran from 2006-12. The reality series followed the Kiss bassist and vocalist; his wife, actress Shannon Tweed; and their two kids.
She also served as director of programming for the Biography Channel and executive producer of the Biography series and as a producer of programming for the A&E network and History channel, where she wrote and produced biographies on the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Truman Capote, John McCain and Eva Peron.
Born on Jan. 16, 1961, and raised in Wilton, Connecticut, O’Hearn graduated from Wilton High School in 1979 before she earned her bachelor’s degree from Amherst College and her master’s from the Columbia School of Journalism.
She also worked as a vice president in charge of the New York office of nonfiction media producer Darlow Smithson Productions and as vp development and talent at WeTV, where she created original series and specials and was instrumental in developing Mary Mary, Kendra on Top and L.A. Hair.
Survivors include her husband, Richard; her children, Ian and Michael; and her four brothers, William, Robert, Michael and Tierney, and their families. Donations in her memory can be made to NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center.
