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Thread: William S. Paley

  1. #1
    radiojane Guest

    William S. Paley


    If you were a die hard Gilligan fan, you ain't gonna like this guy!


    1901-1990

    Another fascinating character from the birth of modern day entertainment.

    Paley was the son of a cigar store owner who bought a fledgling radio station for advertisement purposes, and put the young Paley in charge. This was the beginning of a beautiful thing....

    During World War II, Paley served in the psychological warfare branch in the Office of War Information, under General Dwight Eisenhower, and held the rank of colonel. It was while based in London during the war that Paley came to know and befriend Edward R. Murrow, CBS's head of European news.


    Paley quickly grasped the earnings potential of radio and recognized that good programming was the key to selling advertising time and, thus, in turn, bringing in profits to the network and to affiliate owners. Before Paley, most businessmen viewed radio stations as stand-alone outlets, or in other words, as the broadcast equivalent of the local newspaper. The individual stations originally bought programming from the network and were thus considered the network's clients.


    Paley changed broadcasting's business model, not only by being a genius at developing successful and lucrative programming, but by viewing the advertisers (sponsors) as the most significant element of the broadcasting equation. Paley provided network programming to affiliate stations at nominal cost, thereby ensuring the widest possible distribution not only for the programming but the advertising. The advertisers then became the network's primary clients and, because of the wider distribution brought by the growing network, Paley was able to charge more for the ad time. Affiliates were required to carry programming offered by the network for part of the broadcast day, receiving a portion of the network's take from advertising revenue. At other times in the broadcast day, affiliates were free to offer local programming and sell advertising time locally.

    CBS long owned the Columbia Record Company and its associated CBS Laboratories. It was Columbia Records which introduced the 33 1/3 RPM long playing vinyl disc to successfully compete with RCA Victor's 45 RPM vinyl disc. It was also CBS Laboratories and Peter Goldmark who developed a method for color television. After much bare-knuckled lobbying in Washington by RCA President David Sarnoff and Paley, the FCC gave the nod to the RCA color system and CBS sold the patents to their system to foreign broadcasters PAL-SECAM. CBS was the last of the three broadcast networks to adopt color television, having to buy and license RCA equipment and technology.


    Paley was respected not only for building CBS into an entertainment powerhouse, but for also encouraging the development of a news division that went on to dominate broadcast journalism for decades.
    "Bill Paley erected two towers of power, one for entertainment and one for news," 60 Minutes creator Don Hewitt said in his autobiography, Tell Me a Story. "And he decreed that there would be no bridge between them...In short, Paley was the guy who put Frank Sinatra and Edward R. Murrow on the radio and 60 Minutes on television.


    In 1959 James T. Aubrey, Jr., became the president of CBS. Under Aubrey, the network became the most popular on television with shows like The Beverly Hillbillies and Gilligan's Island. However, Paley's personal favorite was Gunsmoke; in fact, Paley was such a fan of Gunsmoke, that upon its threatened cancellation in 1967, he demanded that it be reinstated somehow, which in turn led to the abrupt demise of Gilligan's Island, which had already been renewed for a fourth season.

    During the 1963–64 television season, fourteen of the top fifteen shows on prime-time, and the top twelve shows of daytime television, were on CBS. Aubrey, however, fought constantly with Fred W. Friendly of CBS News, and Paley did not like Aubrey's taste in low-brow programming. Aubrey and Paley bickered to the point that Aubrey approached Frank Stanton and proposed a take-over of CBS. The take-over never materialized, and in 1965, when CBS's ratings began to slip, Paley fired Aubrey.


    CBS purchased the New York Yankees from the Del Webb Company in 1964. Paley sold the Yankees in 1973 to Cleveland shipbuilder George Steinbrenner and a group of investors. Acting on behalf of CBS, Paley sold the team at its low ebb for $8.7 million. In April, 2006 Forbes Magazine estimated that the Yankees were worth $1.26 billion. To be fair, it was also under CBS stewardship (from 1964 onward), that the dominant Bronx Bombers fell into mediocrity, not making the playoffs during that stretch.

    He was married twice: Two John Randolph Hearst's former wife Dorothy Hart, and to socialite Barbara Cushing Mortimer.

    Paley was a notorious ladies' man who was constantly romantically pursuing women outside of his marriage. Indeed, his first marriage ended when his wife Dorothy became aware of an affair when a newspaper published the suicide note written to Paley by a former girlfriend. He provided a stipend to his former lover, actress Louise Brooks, for the rest of her life. In his later years, he enjoyed keeping company with a coterie of devoted lady friends.

    Paley died in 1990. He's burried in Nassau County NY.





  2. #2
    Guest Guest
    Shrewd businessman! Lookswise, he could have been a judge in old films.

  3. #3
    STsFirstmate Guest
    My cousin, a little country girl who made it in the big city, became a realtor in Ct. specializing in high end properties.
    She sold Mr. and Mrs. Paley a second or weekend home near Bethel. Her commission on the single sale paid for two years tution for her daughter at a very good college.
    She said they were very nice but he clearly ruled the roost and the wife deferred to him on everything, at least publically.
    Regards,
    Mary

  4. #4
    Valerie Guest
    His wife Babe has always fascinated me. The epitome of style and sophistication. Makes Jackie Kennedy look like a high school hack, and that's not easy to do.

  5. #5
    MoonRabbit Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Valerie View Post
    His wife Babe has always fascinated me. The epitome of style and sophistication. Makes Jackie Kennedy look like a high school hack, and that's not easy to do.
    Me Too!
    Boy was she gorgeous!

  6. #6
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    As a fan of Gilligan's island here is a little trivia:
    The name of the boat on the show S.S. Minnow
    was actually named after Newton Minnow chairman
    of the FCC in 1961.
    Who called TV a vast wasteland and hated the show
    so they did it as a "in joke" to him.

  7. #7
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    BABE PALEY 1953

    BABE knew her hubby cheated but turned a blind eye to his indiscretions, at least as far as the public was concerned. BABE had befriended TRUMAN CAPOTE in the mid 1950s and she was damn good to him. She provided him an entrance into a world that he wasn't welcome into previously. TRUMAN however always liked to play with fire. Years later he took an honest to god incident that had happened to BILL PALEY and incorporated the tale into his short story LA COTE BASQUE '65 which was published in THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE. The story had to do with two upper echelon dowagers having lunch while dishing gossip at the well known eaterie; one of their gossipy tales is about an executive who screwed some girl in his marriage bed on the day his wife is due to return home from a trip. During their lovemaking, the girl had unexpectedly started her cycle and stained the sheets. Mr. Executive then spent over an hour on his hands and knees trying to get the blood stains out before Mrs. Executive arrived home. BABE recognized her ever straying husband in the storyline & cut TRUMAN off for good as did many who ran in the same circle(s).



    BILL, BABE & TRU 1959
    1946

    1950
    KELT' HOME FOR WAYWARD YOUTH-
    Helping Young Men To Turn Around For Over Twenty Years !

  8. #8
    MoonRabbit Guest
    Those are fantastic photos of Babe Paley but they really don't do her
    fantastic looks much justice.
    There is a great photo of Babe Paley in one of Bill Paley's bios.

    The photo might be "In All His Glory" by Sally Bedell Smith.

    Bill and Babe are walking down a street in New York and boy does
    Babe look fantastic.
    Like a real life Barbie Fashion model.
    Wish I had that photo to share.

    When she was very young she was in some kind of auto accident where she
    lost her teeth. The doctors did a great job replacing them.

  9. #9
    TallulahDahling Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by MoonRabbit View Post
    Me Too!
    Boy was she gorgeous!
    I would LOVE for that fashion to come back. That was true style. Besides, I look fabulous in hats!

  10. #10
    MoonRabbit Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by TallulahDahling View Post
    I would LOVE for that fashion to come back. That was true style. Besides, I look fabulous in hats!
    I second that one!
    I miss the fashion of that era and the glamorous women of that
    era!

  11. #11
    GoldwynGal Guest
    Back to the Hubs for a moment (although Babe looks fascinating), didn't he go head to head with Sly Weaver from NBC? They both seemed to have similar versions of what TV should be.

  12. #12
    Danny62 Guest
    I hear his wife was a bigger fan of Gunsmoke then he was...and they both hated Gilligan's Island! I would Watch Gilligan over Gunsmoke anyday!!

    Now I do love the radio version of Gunsmoke though!!!

  13. #13
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    part of my fascination with wml? and igas is the changing fashion.

    remarkable change between mamie and jackie.
    Knowlege Comes With Deaths release

    Heaven's on the pillow,it's Silence competes with Hell

    "If you don't go to other peoples' funerals,they won't come to yours."-Yogi Berra

  14. #14
    MoonRabbit Guest
    VEGAS in the 1950's...gotta love it compared to the corporate joke it is now!!!



    I went to Las Vegas in the late 50's with my family.
    It was so wonderful then! Nothing is the same today.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by KELT View Post

    BABE PALEY 1953

    BABE knew her hubby cheated but turned a blind eye to his indiscretions, at least as far as the public was concerned. BABE had befriended TRUMAN CAPOTE in the mid 1950s and she was damn good to him. She provided him an entrance into a world that he wasn't welcome into previously. TRUMAN however always liked to play with fire. Years later he took an honest to god incident that had happened to BILL PALEY and incorporated the tale into his short story LA COTE BASQUE '65 which was published in THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE. The story had to do with two upper echelon dowagers having lunch while dishing gossip at the well known eaterie; one of their gossipy tales is about an executive who screwed some girl in his marriage bed on the day his wife is due to return home from a trip. During their lovemaking, the girl had unexpectedly started her cycle and stained the sheets. Mr. Executive then spent over an hour on his hands and knees trying to get the blood stains out before Mrs. Executive arrived home. BABE recognized her ever straying husband in the storyline & cut TRUMAN off for good as did many who ran in the same circle(s).



    BILL, BABE & TRU 1959
    1946

    1950
    Sorry to bring this up but, from this photo
    it looks like she may have a eating disorder.
    Carolyn(1958-2009) always in my heart.

  16. #16
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    Possibly. But she was also a heavy smoker, up to 3 packs a day.
    Today you could be standing next to someone who is trying their best not to fall apart. So whatever you do today, do it with kindness.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mansfield67 View Post
    Possibly. But she was also a heavy smoker, up to 3 packs a day.
    True enough, but that photo reminds me of Audrey Hepburn
    back in the day.
    So crazy thin.
    Carolyn(1958-2009) always in my heart.

  18. #18
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    he was a television pioneer.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by cash View Post
    he was a television pioneer.
    Very true, and tv must miss people like him.
    Carolyn(1958-2009) always in my heart.

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