Lee Mendelson, the producer who changed the face of the holidays when he brought “A Charlie Brown Christmas” to television in 1965 and wrote the lyrics to its signature song, “Christmas Time Is Here,” died on
Christmas day, his son said.
Mendelson, who won a dozen
Emmys in his long career, died at his home in Hillsborough,
California, of congestive heart failure at age 86 after a long struggle with lung cancer, son Jason Mendelson told The Associated Press.
Lee Mendelson headed a team that included “Peanuts” author Charles Schulz, director Bill Melendez, and pianist and composer Vince Guaraldi, whose
music for the show, including the opening “Christmas Time Is Here,” has become as much a Christmas staple as the show itself.