BREAKING: Paul Nichols dead: Baywatch icon dies less than two weeks after wife's death

The veteran publicist who saved Baywatch from cancellation, Paul Nichols, has died at his home in Weatherford, Texas, at the age of 76.

He died on March 14 but his family only now made the news public. Only 12 days before he died, his wife of 31 years, Linda, passed away.No cause of death has been disclosed as of yet.

In 1991, Nichols, then working for The Lippen Group, played a crucial role in the revival of 'Baywatch' by helping All American Television shift it into first-run syndication. This savvy move breathed new life into the series that NBC had dropped after its initial season.

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Thanks to his efforts, the show not only survived but thrived, continuing for another decade until 2001 under the watch of David Hasselhoff and sparking a global phenomenon.

Fellow publicist Les Eisner lauded Nichols' influence to The Hollywood Reporter, saying he "was largely responsible for branding [Baywatch] as the world's most-watched TV series. Whether that was true or not, who knows? But it stuck."

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