George Faber

In his two-hour interview, George Faber (1921-2011) talks about his early years breaking into the business in local television in Chicago, where he notably worked at the NBC and later CBS affiliates as a news writer. He describes in detail one of his most dramatic news stories, a fire at Our Lady of the Angels School, a tragedy that took the lives of over a hundred, for which a ten-minute remote was featured on the national Evening News with Douglas Edwards on CBS. Faber recalls some of the interviews he did, including an exclusive with President Truman. He speaks in great detail about the next phase of his career in publicity, as the director of client relations at CBS in Los Angeles. He details his work in this position, which entailed selling American shows to foreign markets, with an emphasis on the lucrative Japanese market. He recounts the techniques (as well as the contribution of the series stars) in selling shows, including Perry Mason, Rawhide, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Hogan's Heroes. He also talks about his transition to Viacom, and its creation due to the government rulings. Reba Merrill conducted the interview in a joint venture with the Publicists Guild of America on February 21, 2001 in Sherman Oaks, CA.