BAJA CALIFORNIA, MX. (THECOUNT) — John Langley, the creator of the long-running TV crime fighting reality show “COPS,” has died. He was 78.
Langley died of an apparent heart attack while participating the Coast to Coast Ensenada-San Felipe 250 off-road race in Mexico, a family spokeswoman said.
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Langley was an off-road race car driver and frequently drove in grueling events like the one he took part in Saturday.
“Cops” was among the first reality series on the air when it debuted in 1989, and it would become an institution through 32 seasons. Langley and production partner Malcolm Barbour had shopped the idea for years, and found a home for it on the fledgling Fox network, according to Foxla.
Langley was born in Oklahoma City and raised in Los Angeles. He graduated from California State University, Dominguez Hills and served in the U.S. Army in the early 1960s.
Langley was also a producer on the 2009 film “Brooklyn’s Finest,” directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Richard Gere and Don Cheadle, and on the non-fiction series “Jail,” “Vegas Strip” and “Anatomy of a Crime.”
Langley is survived by his son and producing partner Morgan, who oversees their company Langley Productions; another son, Zak; two daughters, Sara Langley Dews and Jennifer Blair; his wife, Maggie, and seven grandchildren.
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Geo quick facts: Baja California is a Mexican state on the Baja California Peninsula, bordering the U.S. state of California. The landscape spans mountains and beaches on the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of California. Towns near the U.S. border include Tijuana, famous as a nightlife and shopping destination, as well as the town of Rosarito, with its wide, sandy Pacific beaches – wikipedia.