Not Pam Dawber (Mindy’s last name was McConnell)
And not Patti “Laugh In” Deutsch
Hmm… not to be cagy, but I worked for MANY famous companies, including several known for food production and marketing.
SUMMARY:
Real person
Male
Dead
Was alive after 1950
Did not die between 1950 and 1980
American citizen, but born in Europe
Was alive in the 20th century
Not an entertainer, but have written books
Have appeared on television, though it’s not what I’m best known for
Known as a businessman
Not involved in politics
English was not my first language
Worked for many major companies, including several in the food business
Are you married to Fang?
Not Phyllis Diller
Patrick Duffy played Bobby Ewing, brother of the o-so-unsympathetic JR in Dallas.
dq: Are you born in the 20.th century?
Yes
SUMMARY:
Real person
Male
Dead
Born in 20th century
Was alive after 1950
Did not die between 1950 and 1980
American citizen, but born in Europe
Was alive in the 20th century
Not an entertainer, but have written books
Have appeared on television, though it’s not what I’m best known for
Known as a businessman
Not involved in politics
English was not my first language
Worked for many major companies, including several in the food business
Are you a former Manchester City striker?
Are you a well known English football commentator?
19th century French songwriter was Pierre DuPont.
DQ: Did you own any of the companies you worked for?
Were you ever traded for Mike Hargrove?
Did you appear as a game show model long before Vanna White gained notoriety for a similar job?
As usual, you can just say “Soccer! Gimme a DQ!”
Or, in this case, 2 DQs.
No
SUMMARY:
Real person
Male
Dead
Born in 20th century
Was alive after 1950
Did not die between 1950 and 1980
American citizen, but born in Europe
Was alive in the 20th century
Not an entertainer, but have written books
Have appeared on television, though it’s not what I’m best known for
Known as a businessman
Not involved in politics
English was not my first language
Worked for many major companies, including several in the food business
Did not own any of the prominent businesses I worked for
Not Paul Dade (why the hell do I remember THAT?)
No clue on the game show model. Ask a DQ.
Heh, I almost posted my DQs in advance, but I thought it would be rude :). I was thinking of Paul Dickov and Peter Drury.
Were you involved in advertising?
Did you die in the last 10 years?
Yes, I died in the past ten years
As for advertising… it fell under my broad general area of expertise, but it’s not my specialty, nor is it something I’m particularly well know for.
SUMMARY:
Real person
Male
Dead
Born in 20th century
Died in past ten years
American citizen, but born in Europe
Not an entertainer, but have written books
Have appeared on television, though it’s not what I’m best known for
Not involved in politics
English was not my first language
Known as a businessman
Worked for many major companies, including several in the food business
Did not own any of the prominent businesses I worked for
Not directly involved in advertising, though that falls under my broad general range of expertise
Are you half of the surviving members of a famous trio?
Are you a Providence-born science fiction writer?
Do you come from a long line of French businessmen and at one point ran the paint company named for said family as well as nylon, and at one point, gunpowder?
Were you born in Vienna, Austria and died in Claremont, California?
(And this is the first time I’ve participated in one of these, so be gentle with me if I’m doing it wrong.)
Are you a swedish reggae-rapper 
Her name was Paola Diva.
DQ (although I suspect Leaffan has zeroed in on the correct PD): Was German your first language?
IQ: According to a widely-cited comic epitaph, did you die after prematurely shedding your cold-weather garb?