Los Angeles ? Aaron Spelling, a onetime movie bit player who created a massive number of hit series – from the vintage “Charlie’s Angels” and “Dynasty” to “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Melrose Place” – died Friday, his publicist said. He was 83.

Spelling died at his mansion in Los Angeles after suffering a stroke Sunday, according to publicist Kevin Sasaki.

Spelling’s other hit series included “Love Boat,” “Fantasy Island,” “Burke’s Law,” “The Mod Squad,” “Starsky and Hutch,” “T.J. Hooker,” “Matt Houston,” “Hart to Hart” and “Hotel.” He kept his hand in 21st-century TV with series including “7th Heaven” and “Summerland.”

He also produced more than 140 television movies. Among the most notable: “Death Sentence” (1974), Nick Nolte’s first starring role; “The Boy in the Plastic Bubble” (1976), John Travolta’s first dramatic role; and “The Best Little Girl in the World” (1981), which starred Jennifer Jason Leigh.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Spelling provided series and movies exclusively for ABC and is credited for the network’s rise to major status. Jokesters referred to it as “The Aaron Broadcasting Company.”

Success was not without its thorns. TV critics denounced Spelling for fostering fluff and nighttime soap operas. He called his shows “mind candy,” while critics referred to them as “mindless candy.”

“Charlie’s Angels” ushered in a genre known as “jiggle TV” for its gratuitous focus on the female form.

“The knocks by the critics bother you,” he admitted in a 1986 interview with The Associated Press.

“But you have a choice of proving yourself to 300 critics or 30 million fans. You have to make a choice. I think you’re also categorized by the critics. If you do something good, they almost don’t want to like it.”

He liked to cite some of his more creditable achievements, like “Family” (1976-80), a drama about a middle-class family, and “The Best Little Girl in the World.”

Spelling had arrived in Hollywood virtually penniless in the early 1950s. 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 (“I’m slightly claustrophobic,” he explained). He gifted his second wife, Candy, with a 40-carat diamond ring.

The Spellings’ most publicized extravagance was their 56,500-square-foot French chateau in Holmby Hills.

Spelling and Candy, had two children, Tori (for Victoria), who became a star on the two Fox serials (“Now I’m known as Tori Spelling’s father,” he said in mock lament), and Randy, who appeared in the short-lived “Malibu Shores.”