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 years old.
O’Hearn, a longtime cable executive who also worked at WeTV and other channels, served as senior vice president of programming and development at the Food Network and Cooking Channel from 2014 to 2017, where she was responsible for existing programming and the creation of new shows.
Nominated for six Emmys during her career, the executive served as vice president of nonfiction and alternative programming at A&E Television Networks, where she developed “Gene Simmons Family Jewels,” a reality series that followed Simmons, his wife Shannon Tweed, and their two children.
O’Hearn worked for the network for 16 years, serving as executive producer and supervising producer of the series “Biography,” where she produced episodes on the lives of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mike Tyson, Sylvester Stallone, Val Kilmer and many others. During her time at the network, she was program director for the Biography Channel and program producer for the A&E Network and the History Channel.
She was vice president of development and talent at WeTV, creating original series and specials. During her time there, she helped develop shows such as “Mary Mary,” “Kendra on Top” and “LA Hair.” Prior to WeTV, O’Hearn was vice president of nonfiction media producer Darlow Smithson Productions.
O’Hearn leaves behind her husband Richard, her children Ian and Michael, and her four brothers William, Robert, Michael and Tierney. Donations may be made to the NYU Langone Health Perlmutter Cancer Center.
