Alan Neuman

In his three-hour interview, Alan Neuman (1924-2008) talks about joining NBC as a page in 1947 and his rise through the ranks as stage manager and then director. He describes the studios at Rockefeller Center and the early camerawork on series including Kraft Television Theater. He recalls directing NBC's first televised presidential election coverage in 1948, anchored by Ben Grauer, which lasted so long that he had Grauer doing calisthenics on the air. He talks about serving as director on early series, including The Three Flames, Mary Kay and Johnny, and Broadway Open House (the forerunner to The Tonight Show). He speaks in detail about his work with Kate Smith and her manager Ted Collins on The Kate Smith Hour. Neuman discusses his work as a producer/director on programs that featured several presidents of the United States, including Presidents Hoover, Eisenhower, and Kennedy. He talks about the first color remote broadcast done by NBC, for Matinee Theater. He also speaks in detail about the series Wide Wide World and Person to Person, for which he served as a producer. Additionally, he talks about the era of the Hollywood Blacklist. B-roll consists of several photos of Neuman with the presidents he worked with and a photo from the premiere episode of Adlai Stevenson Presents. Gary Rutkowski conducted the interview on February 15, 2006 in Los Angeles, CA.