Robert A. Wilson was a public television station executive and father to actors Luke and Owen Wilson.

In 1967, Wilson took over Dallas’ Public Broadcasting Service affiliate, KERA. He oversaw programming as well as technical improvements, such as a transition to broadcasting in color and a switch from film to video.

Wilson also hired journalist Jim Lehrer and made him the anchor of Newsroom, a precursor to PBS’s long-running NewsHour With Jim Lehrer.

The patriarch of the Wilson family is also known for introducing American audiences to Monty Python’s Flying Circus in 1974.

Wilson died May 5, 2017, in Dallas, Texas. He was 76.