Latest News from The Interviews

Jack Lemmon's Archive of American Television Interview is Now Online!

 Mon, 01/01/2007 Happy New Year from the Archive of American Television. More interviews are on the way! The late Jack Lemmon's interview has just been posted online at Google Video. Click here to access all segments. (The interviews are done chronologically, so be sure to watch the parts in order to hear the whole story.) Interview Description: In this 4-part (each 30 minute part is posted separately) oral history interview, actor Jack Lemmon discusses his early television appearances on sitcoms, anthology...

Dick Clark Celebrates 35 Years of "New Year's Rockin' Eve"

 Thu, 12/28/2006 Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve celebrates its 35th anniversary with the Dec 31, 2006-January 1, 2007 special. Dick Clark spoke about his first New Year's special in 1959 and his inaguaration of New Year's Rockin' Eve in 1972, when he was interviewed by the Archive of American Television (scroll to 24 minutes into the segment below) on July 29, 1999. To access Dick Clark's entire Archive intervew, click here. This year, the show expands from one to a record three performances, live from the...

Former CBS President Frank Stanton Dies at 98

 Tue, 12/26/2006 Dr. Frank Stanton, who served as President of CBS from 1946 to 1973, died Sunday, December 24th at the age of 98. He granted the Archive of American Telev ision a rare 2-part videotaped interview in 2000 and 2001. Below are some excerpts from the three hour interview. The entire interview can be accessed by clicking here : On joining CBS in 1935. I got my doctorate in late August, 1935. We got in the car the next day and drove to New York and I think my first day at CBS was the 4th of September...

Spice of Life -- The Story of "It's a Wonderful Life" on TV

 Fri, 12/22/2006 “ It’s a Wonderful Life shows that every human being on this earth matters—and that’s a very powerful message.” --Steven Spielberg by guest blogger Stephen Cox What was on the cover of Newsweek for the fledgling periodical's fifteen-cent December 30, 1946 issue? Answer: The cast of It's a Wonderful Life . Here we are, exactly sixty years later, and the Frank Capra motion picture--which was never intended to be a holiday movie at all--is being celebrated with more homespun enthusiasm than ever...

Animation Legend Joseph Barbera Has Died

 Tue, 12/19/2006 Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame Honoree and Archive Interviewee Joseph Barbera has died at the age of 95. Barbera was interviewed by Leonard Maltin for the Archive in 1997. Click here to access Joseph Barbera's entire three hour-plus interview. Interview description: Joseph Barbera discussed his start as a young animator at the Van Beuren Studios in New York, before his move to California and MGM's cartoon studio. He recalled working for executive Fred Quimby, and his...

Fred Rogers Memorial Scholarship Applications Are Now Being Accepted!

 Fri, 12/15/2006 The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation, in association with Ernst & Young LLP, is offering two scholarships in honor of Fred Rogers, the creator and host of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood . The scholarships are intended to support and encourage aspiring upper division or graduate students to pursue careers in children’s media and further the values and principles of Fred Rogers’ work. From 1967 to 2001, Fred Rogers produced his daily children's television program, celebrating...

Archive Mourns the Loss of Interviewee Peter Boyle

 Wed, 12/13/2006 Peter Boyle, who played Ray's Dad on Everybody Loves Raymond (and voice to the show's only catchphrase— "Holy crap!") has died at the age of 71. Boyle was also beloved for his role as the Monster in Mel Brooks' film Young Frankenstein . His other notable performances included the bigoted Joe and an Emmy-winning guest-starring role on The X-Files . The Archive of American Television interviewed Boyle for one-and-a-half hours on November 8, 2005. Here are some soundbites from the interview: On...

65th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor Attack

 Thu, 12/07/2006 Commercial television was in its infancy in the United States when Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941. NBC and CBS had gone on the air with commercial television in July of 1941. Frances Buss Buch worked at CBS at this time and describes hearing the news and how CBS reported it on television. Her reminiscenes can be found at 23 minutes into Part 1 of her interview . Frances Buss Buch was the first woman director to work at CBS television. Watch her entire five-part interview here. In...

Los Angeles Residents: Enjoy A Shopping Day at Bloomingdale's Benefiting the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation

 Mon, 12/04/2006 On Tuesday, December 5th, from noon to 8 PM , Bloomingdale's (14060 Riverside Drive) in Sherman Oaks, California, is hosting a "Shopping Works Wonders Day" to benefit the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation (the Archive of American Television's parent organization). 10% of the proceeds from receipts turned in to the Foundation's table (located on Level 2) will be donated to the Foundation. As an extra incentive, Bloomingdale's will give you a $15 gift card for every $150 you...

50 Years Ago -- Videotape Debuts

 Thu, 11/30/2006 The Advent of Videotape....50 Years Ago (November 30, 2006) By Steve Cox On November 30, 1956 at 6:15 pm Pacific Standard Time, a milestone in the history of broadcasting occurred: the debut of videotape. In Hollywood, CBS Television recorded and reproduced, on the new Ampex Videotape Recorder, a Douglas Edwards news broadcast in New York which was rebroadcast and seen by thousands of viewers along the Pacific West Coast, from Los Angeles up to the northern tip of Washington. The program was...