Veteran producer Jeffrey M. Hayes, who helped develop Star Trek: The Next Generation, passed away on March 9th at 68

Jeffrey M. Hayes, a former TV executive who helped develop Star Trek: The Next Generation, has passed away

MARCH 26, 2021 - Sad news today as Deadline reported on Monday that veteran TV producer Jeffrey M. Hayes passed away on March 9th from “an illness unrelated to COVID”. He was 68 years old.

Star Trek fans won’t recognize Hayes from the screen, but he did have an important role in the franchise. As an executive at Paramount Pictures Network Television, he helped oversee development of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Hayes’ career started at Aaron Spelling productions where he was involved in projects like T.J. Hooker, which starred Star Trek’s William Shatner. After Spelling, Hayes went on to Paramount, and eventually he moved to Australia, where he helped build a production base of operations. He also served as President of Village Roadshow Pictures Television and later formed his own production company Coote/Hayes making television features, series and miniseries.

And there’s one more Star Trek connection for Hayes. According to Memory Alpha, Hayes’ father, Bill Hayes, was a business partner and friend of Jeffrey Hunter. Jeffrey M. Hayes was named after Jeffrey Hunter, who played Captain Pike in the original Original Series pilot, “The Cage”.

Hayes is survived by his wife Lisa, children Christopher and Jacqueline, and siblings Chip, Cathy and Cindy. Please join me in sending condolences to Hayes’ family.