Don Mischer, the Emmy-accumulating director-producer who called the shots on the biggest live entertainment events in the world, from Super Bowl halftime shows and Olympic opening ceremonies to the Oscars and the Emmys, has died. He was 85.

Mischer died peacefully in his sleep in Los Angeles on Friday, a family spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter.

The San Antonio native also helmed the Kennedy Center Honors, starting with the inaugural 1978 event through 1986 — he then produced the CBS telecast from 1993-2001 — and guided Barbara Walters‘ highly-rated ABC interview shows beginning in the late 1970s.

Meanwhile, Mischer was the architect of dozens of landmark TV specials, including 1983’s Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, which featured a reunion of The Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson’s “moonwalk” during a “Billie Jean” performance, and 1990’s The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson and 1998’s Sonny & Me: Cher Remembers, both of which aired mere months after the shocking deaths...