Screenwriter William Bast, who co-created the nighttime TV soap opera “The Colbys” in the 1980s and wrote for numerous other shows, died May 4 at a care facility in Los Angeles. He was 84.

William Bast, who wrote extensively for both film and TV and was also known for his two biographies of James Dean, died of complications from Alzheimer’s on May 4. He was 84. Bast wrote scripts ...