Stephen J. Cannell, who created more than 40 television series and had 16 best selling novels, has died at age 69 from melanoma complications.

He considered himself a writer first -- his very recognizable credit sequence showed him typing at his IBM Selectric typewriter, then pulling the page out and throwing it into the air, where it turned into his logo.

Writing made him into a mogul -- he had his own studio in the '80s and '90s. In its heyday, Stephen J. Cannell Productions had a building on Hollywood Boulevard, 2000 employees and six shows on the air, including "The A-Team" and "Hunter."

That's a pretty good achievement for a guy who flunked three grades in school because he had dyslexia. As he said in many interviews, his own typing was "gibberish" and his assistants had to untangle his spelling. But a teacher in college encouraged his writing and he worked and worked, five hours a day, every day, finally breaking in as a writer in the late '60s on "Adam 12" and then going on to create series that defined the '70s and '80s: The Rockford Files, "Greatest American Hero," "Riptide," "Wiseguy," "Renegade," "Silk Stalkings," "Stingray," "Profit."

He was also known for encouraging talent and nurturing writers -- he gave early breaks to Jeff Goldblum, Kevin Spacey, Johnny Depp and "Sopranos" creator David Chase among others. The thriving television and movie industry in Vancouver, Canada, owes its great success to Cannell moving production on "Stingray" to the city, and then building a studio there.

Cannell mostly left television in the '90s -- partially because of a change in the rules of how television productions were financed. See more about this here.

He turned to novel writing, where he became a best selling author of crime novels, and occasionally acting. His last role was himself, showing up at fictional author Rick Castle's poker game in several episodes of "Castle."

He was known as one of the nice guys in Hollywood -- check the comments for appreciations from friends and fans in this Entertainment Weekly story.

See the opening credits for many of Cannell shows and a nice appreciation of his work here.

The Television Academy has a long interview with Cannell in its archives here.

He had been married for 46 years and was survived by three children and three grandchildren.