Richard L. O’Connor, who produced The Muppet Movie, has died at 96.

Richard L. O’Connor

The Emmy Award winning producer, studio executive, and long-time resident of the Mendocino Coast died in Palm Desert, California on July 22, 2026. His cause of death is not known. You can read his obituary in full here.

He was born in San Francisco with his twin brother Don on January 7, 1930. After graduating from high school, the brothers served together in the United States Marine Corps in the Korean War from 1950-1951. He then went on to have a long and successful career in the entertainment industry.

 Starting in the mail room at CBS Television City, he eventually became an Emmy Award winning producer and studio executive. His diversified feature and TV movie credits were: “On Golden Pond,” starring Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, and Jane Fonda; “Wild Texas Wind,” starring Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson; “The Muppet Movie;” Movie, Movie;” “Tom Clancy’s Op Center;” and “Amerika,” among others.

The Electric Mayhem performs their original song “Can You Picture That?” as part of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets. The song debuted in The Muppet Movie (1979) during the sequence where the Muppets disguise Fozzie’s Studebaker.

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