William Blinn was born in Toledo, Ohio. After completing high school, he went on to attend college before relocating to California, where he started his career as a television writer and producer in the 1960s.
Following his freelance work on numerous television shows, his big break came in 1971 with the made-for-TV movie "Brian's Song", which was an instant ratings success. This was followed in 1972 by the development of "The Rookies", which he pitched to producer Aaron Spelling and broadcaster ABC.
After a two-year stint with "The Rookies", he moved to Warner Bros. where he wrote and produced "The New Land". His next project was another success, entitled "Starsky and Hutch". Blinn originally pitched it as an episode of "The Rookies" before the producers demanded that they wanted to separate it and decided to make it a made-for-TV movie, before going to series in 1975.
He briefly moved to Lorimar in 1976, where he came up with ideas for "Hunter" and a television adaptation of "Eight is Enough". He then moved to Wolper Productions, where he wrote the miniseries "Roots".
In 1977, after a freelance writing stint, he came full-time as a writer and producer for Viacom, partnering with director Jerry Thorpe, to start their own entity Blinn/Thorpe Productions. There, he produced "The MacKenzies of Paradise Cove", "The Lazarus Syndrome", and "American Dream", as well as made-for-TV movies like "Fast Lane Blues", "Stickin' Together", and "Heaven Only Knows".
In 1980, Blinn and Thorpe broke their ties, signing a production agreement with MGM Television. There, he developed and produced the television series "Fame". He worked on its show's first three seasons.
By 1984, he left MGM Television and its "Fame" program, signing a production deal with Lorimar Productions. During their time at Lorimar, he renamed his production company from Eilenna Productions to Echo Cove Productions. While at Lorimar, he produced "Bridges to Cross" for CBS and the made-for-TV movie "Eight is Enough: A Family Reunion", then reunited with Jerry Thorpe for "Our House" and "Aaron's Way", both for NBC.
In 1988, he left Lorimar to work for Walt Disney Television under a two-year production deal. There, he produced a remake of "The Absent-Minded Professor", as well as "Wild Jack", "Davy Crockett: A Letter to Polly", "Appearances", and "Polly: Comin' Home!". Following his time at Disney, he switched to New World Television, resulting in the making of "The Boys of Twilight".
In 1993, he signed a non-exclusive pact with producer Aaron Spelling. Therefore, he created "Heaven Help Us" for the Spelling Premiere Network. After the show flopped, he went back to becoming an independent producer and writer. He wrote for Hallmark Hall of Fame "The Boys Next Door" and for Hill/Fields Entertainment, "Shaughnessy".
In 1997, he was signed with Stu Segall Productions. Therefore, Echo Cove was renamed to Dauphine Productions. Therefore, he wrote and served as show-runner for "Pensacola: Wings of Gold". He retired in 1998, and "Pensacola"'s show-running and writing duties were assumed by Jacqueline Zambrano. Therefore, he received a producing credit on the 2004 movie adaptation of "Starsky & Hutch".
