[Wee Gordon]

TV mogul Aaron Spelling, whose shows Beverly Hills 90210 and Dynasty helped shaped prime time television, has died aged 83.

Spelling suffered a stroke at his mansion near Beverly Hills earlier this week and he died yesterday, his publicist said.

Over a career spanning 50 years he set a record of producing more than 3,000 television shows as well as movies and plays.

His impressive string of successes included Starsky and Hutch, Hart to Hart, Charlie's Angels, Love Boat, Fantasy Island, TJ Hooker and Melrose Place.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Spelling produced so many successful programmes for America's ABC network that he is credited for its rise to major status and is often referred to "The Aaron Broadcasting Company".

In the early 1950s Spelling left "the wrong side of the tracks" in Dallas and moved to Hollywood virtually penniless.

By the 1980s, Forbes magazine estimated his wealth at $300 million.

He enjoyed his status, working in a Hollywood office larger than those of golden-era moguls, saying once: "I'm slightly claustrophobic."

He was married twice, first to Carolyn Jones, who became famous as Morticia in The Addams Family, and second to Candy.

His daughter Tori and son Randy both entered showbusiness as actors.