LOS ANGELES — Lee Mendelson, the producer who changed the face of the holidays when he brought “ A Charlie Brown Christmas”  to television in 1965 and wrote the lyrics to its signature song, “ Christmas Time Is Here,”  died on Christmas day, his son said.

Mendelson, who won a dozen Emmys in his long career, died at his home in Hillsborough, California, of congestive heart failure at age 86 after a long struggle with lung cancer, son Jason Mendelson told The Associated Press.