Ethel Winant

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Ethel Winant
Vice President of CBS
In office
1973–1975
Personal details
Born(1922-08-05)August 5, 1922
Worcester, Massachusetts
DiedNovember 29, 2003(2003-11-29) (aged 81)
Los Angeles, California
AwardsTelevision Hall of Fame (1999)

Ethel Wald Winant (August 5, 1922 – November 29, 2003) was the first woman executive in television when she became the vice-president of CBS in 1973. Winant was also a casting director for various shows including The Twilight Zone and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. She was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999.

Early life and education[]

Winant was born on August 5, 1922 in Worcester, Massachusetts.[1] During her childhood, Winant grew up in Marysville, California.[2] She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor's degree and Whittier College with a Master's degree in Theatre.[3]

Career[]

While in school, Winant worked behind the scenes in the Pasadena Playhouse. After graduation, she became a theatre producer in Los Angeles while working for the Lockheed Corporation as a riveter and later riveter instructor making P-38s during the Second World War.[4][5] At the end of the 1940s, Winant became an assistant to the producer for Broadway plays including A Streetcar Named Desire and Death of a Salesman.[6]

She began working in television during the 1950s as a casting director for Studio One and Playhouse 90. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Winant cast various CBS shows including The Twilight Zone, Hawaii Five-O, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.[4] She was promoted to vice-president of CBS in 1973 and became the first woman to hold an executive role in television.[4] After working at Children's Television Workshop in the late 1970s as a producer, Winant moved to NBC to become a vice president of TV movies and miniseries.[7] During the 1980s and 1990s, she was the producer of multiple programs including , World War II: When Lions Roared, and George Wallace.[3]

Death[]

Winant died in Los Angeles on November 29, 2003.[1]

Awards and honors[]

During the 1990s, Winant was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries or Movie on three separate occasions.[8] In 1999, Winant was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.[9]

Personal life[]

Winant was divorced with three children.[1]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Lavietes, Stuart (14 December 2003). "Ethel Winant, 81, Pioneering Woman In TV Production". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  2. ^ Rense, Rip (29 November 2017). "Ethel Winant: Hall of Fame Tribute". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  3. ^ a b Newcomb, Horace, ed. (2013). "Ethel Winnant". Museum of Broadcast Communication Encyclopedia of Television. Vol. 4 (Second ed.). London and New York: Routledge. p. 2554. ISBN 978-1579584139.
  4. ^ a b c Saperstein, Pat (3 December 2003). "Ethel Winant". Variety. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  5. ^ "The Mary Tyler Moore Show 'The Making of the Mary Tyler Moore Show' FULL Documentary". YouTube. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  6. ^ King, Susan (3 December 2003). "Ethel Winant, 81; First Woman to Become Network Executive". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  7. ^ Lentz III, Harris M. (2004). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2003. McFarland. p. 430. ISBN 0786417560. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  8. ^ "Ethel Winant". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  9. ^ King, Susan (11 March 1999). "She Set the Course for Those Who Followed". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
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