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Don Hewitt

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Don Hewitt
Hewitt in 1987
Born
Donald Shepherd Hewitt

(1922-12-14)December 14, 1922
New York City,U.S.
DiedAugust 19, 2009(2009-08-19)(aged 86)
Bridgehampton, New York,United States
Alma materNew York University(withdrew for military service)
OccupationTelevision producer
Years active1942–2009
EmployerCBS News(1948–2009)
Known forCreator of60 Minutes
Spouse(s)Mary Weaver (1945–1963; divorced; 2 children)
Frankie Teague Childers(1963–1974; divorced; 2 children)
Marilyn Berger(1979–2009; his death)
Children4
AwardsEdward R. Murrow Award,Emmy,Peabody Award,Producers Guild of America Award,Television Hall of Fame

Donald Shepard Hewitt[1](December 14, 1922 – August 19, 2009) was an Americantelevision news producerand executive, best known for creating theCBStelevision news magazine60 Minutesin 1968, which at the time of his death was the longest-runningprime-timebroadcast on American television.[2]Under Hewitt's leadership,60 Minuteswas the only news program ever rated as thenation's top-rankedtelevision program, an achievement it accomplished five times.[3]Hewitt produced the first televised presidential debate in 1960.[4]

Early life

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Hewitt was born inNew York City, New York,the son of Frieda (née Pike) and Ely S. Hewitt (changed from Hurwitz or Horowitz).[5]His father was aJewishimmigrant fromRussia,and his mother's family was ofGerman Jewishdescent.[1][5]Hewitt's family moved toBoston, Massachusetts,shortly after his birth, where his father worked as aclassified advertisingmanager for theBoston Herald American.His family later lived inMilwaukee, Wisconsin.He graduated fromNew Rochelle High School,inNew Rochelle, New York.

College and early career

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Hewitt attendedNew York Universityand started hisjournalismcareer in 1942 as headcopyboyfor theNew York Herald Tribune.[1]He joined theUnited States Merchant Marine Academyin 1943 and served as a journalist forStars and StripesinLondon.[6]Hewitt later returned to sea as anensignin theNaval Reserve.[7]AfterWorld War IIended in 1945, Hewitt returned to his job ascopyboyfor theTribune,then worked forThe Associated Pressat a bureau inMemphis, Tennessee.However, his wife Mary Weaver—whom he married while working in Memphis—wanted to go to New York City, so he moved back.[1][8]

Back in New York City, Hewitt started working at theE.W. Scripps Company-owned photo agencyACME Newspictures,which was later merged into co-owned news serviceUnited Press[9][10]

Career at CBS News

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Hewitt soon received a lucrative offer at the CBStelevision network,which was seeking someone who had "picture experience" to help with production of television broadcast.[8]He began working at its news division,CBS News,in 1948 and wasproducer-directorof the network's evening-news broadcast withDouglas Edwardsfor fourteen years.

He was also the first director ofSee It Now,co-produced by hostEdward R. MurrowandFred W. Friendlywhich started in 1951; his use of "two film projectors cutting back and forth breaks up the monotony of atalking head,improves editing, and shapes future news broadcasts. "[3]In 1956, Hewitt was the only one to capture on film the final moments of theSS Andrea Doriaas it sank and disappeared under the water.[3]He directed the televised production of the first1960 U.S. presidential candidate debatebetween SenatorJohn F. Kennedyand Vice-presidentRichard M. Nixonon September 26, 1960, at the CBS studios inChicago.It was the firstpresidential candidate debateever televised. He later becameexecutive producerof theCBS Evening NewswithWalter Cronkite,helming the broadcast ofJohn F. Kennedy's assassination as the story developed.[11]

External videos
video icon"Life and Career of Don Hewitt", April 5, 1994,C-SPAN

He then launched the eight-timeEmmy Award-winning show60 Minutes.Within ten years,the show reached the top 10 in viewership, a position it maintained for 21 of the following 22 seasons, until the1999–2000 season.[3]

Hewitt was a primary figure in the televising of a 199660 Minutesdocumentary on thetobacco industryscandal involving the tobacco companyBrown & Williamson,in which the program eventually reported the allegations of whistleblowerJeffrey Wigand.Initially wary of a lawsuit, Hewitt sided with CBS News management and killed the Wigand story by censoring the interview.[12]After blowback, a more complete presentation of the story was allowed to air, but the handling of the issue remained "a dark, sorry period in the otherwise virtuous life of60 Minutes."[13]The overall scandal was the inspiration for the 1999 filmThe Insider.[14]Hewitt was portrayed in the film byPhilip Baker Hall.

Declining ratings at60 Minutes—after decades of being in the top 10, the show had dropped in rankings to number 20—contributed to what became a public debate in 2002 about whether it was time for CBS to replace Hewitt at60 Minutes.According toThe New York Times,Jeff Fager,producer of60 Minutes II,was being floated as a possible replacement,[3]speculation that proved to be accurate. The show was still generating an estimated profit of more than $20 million a year, but the decline in viewership and profit meant the show could no longer "operate as an island unto itself, often thumbing its nose at management while demanding huge salaries and perquisites."[3]Within a couple of years, Hewitt stepped aside as executive producer at the age of 81, signing a ten-year contract with CBS to be an executive producer-at-large forCBS News.[1]

In January 2010,60 Minutesdedicated an entire show to the story and memory of Hewitt.[15]

In 2018, an internalCBSinvestigation found that in the 1990s Hewitt had been accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a former CBS employee over a period of years. CBS determined that the employee's allegations were credible and by 2018 had paid her over $5 million in settlements in exchange for her silence.[16]

Personal life and death

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Hewitt was married three times:

  • Mary Weaver with whom he had two sons: Jeffrey and Steven.[17]
  • Frankie Teague Hewitt- American theater producer and founder of theFord's Theatre Societywho was responsible for restoring and reopening the historic site as a working theater. They had a daughter: Lisa Gabrielle Hewitt Cassara, former coordinating producer of the syndicated television show "A Current Affair";[18]and he adopted her daughter Jilian Childers from a previous marriage.[17]
  • Marilyn Berger- American broadcast and newspaper journalist.[17]Through Berger, Hewitt is the great-uncle ofRob Fishman.

In March 2009, Hewitt was diagnosed withpancreatic cancerfrom which he died on August 19, 2009, at his home inBridgehampton,New York.[2][19]

Honors

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Bibliography

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External videos
video iconBooknotesinterview with Hewitt onTell Me a Story,April 1, 2001,C-SPAN

In 1985,Random HousepublishedMinute by Minute(ISBN0394546415), a look at the history of60 Minutes.In 2001,PublicAffairspublishedTell Me a Story: Fifty Years and 60 Minutes in Television(ISBN1586480170), in which Hewitt chronicles his life as a newsman.

References

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  1. ^abcdeHarris, Kathryn (August 19, 2009)."Don Hewitt, Creator, First Producer of '60 Minutes,' Dies at 86".Bloomberg.RetrievedAugust 19,2009.
  2. ^abStaff writer (August 19, 2009)."TV News Giant Don Hewitt Dies At 86".CBS News.RetrievedAugust 19,2009.
  3. ^abcdefgRutenberg, Jim (November 25, 2002)."CBS Wants '60 Minutes' Chief To Hand Over the Stopwatch".The New York Times.RetrievedAugust 20,2009.
  4. ^Steinberg, Jacques (August 20, 2009)."Don Hewitt, Creator of '60 Minutes,' Dies at 86".The New York Times.
  5. ^abThe Tablet Magazine:"Don Hewitt on His Judaism - The '60 Minutes' creator died today at 86. For the book 'Stars of David,' he talked about his religion." By Abigail PogrebinAugust 19, 2009
  6. ^The Don Hewitt Saga.evesmag.com. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  7. ^Don Hewitt dies at 86; creator of '60 Minutes'.Los Angeles Times.Published August 20, 2009. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  8. ^abSteinberg, Jacques (August 19, 2009)."Don Hewitt, Creator of 60 Minutes,' Dies at 86".The New York Times.RetrievedAugust 19,2009.(Website registration required.)
  9. ^Photograph Identification Guidefrom the website of art historian David Rudd Cycleback
  10. ^"IMeet Central - Organize, Share, Collaborate".
  11. ^Sixty Minutes,rebroadcast of Memorial to Don Hewitt, 24 January 2010.
  12. ^Brenner, Marie."Jeffrey Wigand: The Man Who Knew Too Much".Vanity Fair.Retrieved2021-11-17.
  13. ^Shales, Tom (October 15, 1999)."The Explosive Film That Ticked Off '60 Minutes'".The Washington Post.Archivedfrom the original on 2000-08-16.RetrievedNovember 17,2021.
  14. ^The Insider(Motion picture). Touchstone Pictures. 1999. Event occurs at 2:33:32.Although based on a true story, certain elements in this motion picture have been fictionalized for dramatic effect.
  15. ^"Don Hewitt » morley safer, mike wallace, don hewitt biography, ed bradley, don hewitt memorial | Watch TV Show Online".Archived fromthe originalon 2010-01-29.Retrieved2010-02-15.
  16. ^Abrams, Rachel; Koblin, John (December 6, 2018)."At '60 Minutes,' Independence Led to Trouble, Investigators Say".The New York Times.RetrievedDecember 13,2018.
  17. ^abcNew York Times:"Don Hewitt, Creator of '60 Minutes,' Dies at 86" By JACQUES STEINBERGAugust 19, 2009
  18. ^New York Times:"WEDDINGS; Lisa G. Hewitt, William Cassara"April 18, 1993
  19. ^Bauder, David (August 19, 2009)."CBS News pioneer Don Hewitt, who invented '60s Minutes' dies at 86".Chicago Tribune.Archived fromthe originalon August 22, 2009.RetrievedAugust 19,2009.
  20. ^"Paul White Award".Radio Television Digital News Association.Archived fromthe originalon 2013-02-25.Retrieved2014-05-27.
  21. ^Don Hewitt Personal AwardArchivedJune 11, 2010, at theWayback Machinefrom thePeabody Awardwebsite
  22. ^Arizona State University."Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication".RetrievedNovember 23,2016.
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