He began his career in the 1940s, while still in his teens, working as an assistant director for his uncle, Hollywood producer Sam Katzman.
He started on adventure movie serials such as Brenda Starr, Reporter (1945), Superman (1948), Batman and Robin (1949), The Great Adventures of Captain Kidd (1951), Riding with Buffalo Bill (1954), et al.[1] During the 1950s he continued working as an assistant director, mostly with his uncle, in feature films such as A Yank in Korea (1951), The Giant Claw (1957), Face of a Fugitive (1959), and Angel Baby (1961).
He served as assistant director and associate producer on all four seasons of the adventure drama Route 66 (1960-1964), which he would later regard as his favorite production.
In 1978, Katzman served as producer for the five-part miniseries Dallas, which would evolve into one of television's longest-running dramas until 1991.
Under Katzman's lead, Dallas, whose first episodes had consisted of self-contained stories, evolved into a serial, leading into the '80s trend of prime-time soap operas..[2] While Katzman headed Dallas' writing staff from the show's second season, he remained producer, with Philip Capice serving as executive producer.
Katzman agreed, reportedly under the condition that he would have "total authority" on the show,[2] and as of the tenth season premiere, he was promoted to executive producer, and Capice was let go.
Katzman died of a heart attack in Malibu, California, on September 5, 1996, three days after his 69th birthday and more than two months prior to the airing of his last production, Dallas: J.R. Returns.