William Hasley, a screenwriter and author best known for work on “The Smurfs,” was identified as the hiker found dead Saturday evening on Los Angeles’ Runyon Canyon trail.
LAFD air crews lowered rescuers to Hasley and administered medical treatment, but officials pronounced the 78-year-old dead at the scene.
Hasley wrote for Hanna-Barbera and Filmation, later worked on series including “The Young Riders” and “Swift Justice,” and taught writing at UCLA.
His credits also included co-writing Caitlyn Jenner’s motivational book “Finding the Champion Within” and ghostwriting other self-help titles.
The death came two weeks after another hiker, a man in his 40s, died of cardiac arrest on the same popular Hollywood trail.