Avis de décès de Lawrence White - Nécrologie - MesAieux.com

WHITE--Lawrence, innovative early producer of programming on radio and television, died on April 27, 2008 at the age of 94. He is survived by his wife of 71 years, Evelyn, their children Joshua, Deborah and Rebecca and grandchildren Mathew and Sarah Barnett. His long career in media arts began as an assistant to the legendary manager/producer Leland Heyward. Soon White was representing artists on his own including Walter Huston and Charles Laughton. Eventually he began to produce independently. He had the original idea of producing weekly radio series based on classic detective fiction like that of Dashiell Hammett. His first success was Sam Spade based on the detective in the book and movie, The Maltese Falcon. Sam Spade was quickly followed by a another series called "The Fat Man", in which an original detective in the Hammett style was successfully created. Both series ran for many years on CBS Radio. In the early fifties, White moved to the growing medium of television. He was the creator and sole producer of The Pinky Lee Show. At the height of its popularity, The Pinky Lee Show was broadcast six hours a week live on NBC. The legendary studio in Burbank currently occupied by The Tonight Show was built for Pinky. At the same time and in partnership with Leland Heyward he produced the ground breaking Ford 50th Anniversary Show, one of the very first "specials", which starred Ethel Merman and Mary Martin and was directed by Jerome Robbins. At the time, the show was so important that two networks, NBC and CBS both carried it live. Later, White was active in bringing Jazz to a huge audience by producing a series of classic Jazz Shows on Television sponsored by Timex watches. He also pioneered using Videotape at classic circuses in Europe, bringing them to America as "International Showtime," a long running series hosted by Don Ameche on NBC. He is remembered for his originality, creativity and intelligence. Final services are incomplete.