Robert A. Daly

Robert A. Daly
Born	(1936-12-08) December 8, 1936 (age 84) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Business executive
Spouse(s)	Nancy MacNeil (1941–2009) ​ ​ (m. 1961, divorced)​ Carole Bayer Sager ​ (m. 1996)​
Children	3

Robert Anthony Daly (born December 8, 1936) is an American business executive who has led organizations such as CBS Entertainment, Warner Bros., Warner Music Group, and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Daly currently serves as a non-executive advisor to Paramount Pictures, where he provides counsel on a number of strategic areas.

Daly completed his term as chairman of the board of trustees for the children's charity Save the Children^[1] in February 2010.

In addition, Daly serves as president of Rulemaker, Inc., an investment consulting company. He is also chairman of DonorsChoose.org, a public schools assistance program.

Daly also serves as chairman of the board for the American Film Institute.^[2] Additionally, he is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television’s Dean’s Advisory Board and the UCLA Executive Board for the Medical Sciences. In 2006, he joined the board of the USC Annenberg School for Communication.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Daly was born and grew up Brooklyn, New York, the youngest of six children. Daly attended his first Dodgers game when he was six years old and has stated that the '55 Dodgers are his favorite team and Jackie Robinson is his hero. After graduating high school, Daly applied for a job as an office boy at CBS to help support his mother and soon after got promoted but left CBS when he was drafted into the United States Army in which he described as "When I was in the Army, they had theaters on the base and, for some reason or other, I went to the movies any time I could go, and I took notes. I don’t know why. It wasn’t my job at CBS; I just took notes." After leaving the army, Daly returned to CBS.^[3]

Education and career at CBS[]

Robert A. Daly attended Brooklyn College and Hunter College. Daly began as a gofer for the Columbia Broadcasting System in 1955, before beginning a career path to "president of entertainment".^[4] In addition to his duties as chief of television operations at CBS, Daly was also responsible for CBS Theatrical Films, which was formed in October 1979. During his 25-year association with CBS, Daly served in various posts, including executive vice president of CBS Television Network and vice president of business affairs.

Warner Bros.[]

Having left CBS, he joined Warner Bros. on December 1, 1980. His titles were chairman of the board and co-chief executive officer. One year later, he was named chairman of the board and chief executive officer and appointed Terry Semel president and chief operating officer. Daly resumed his previous title on March 30, 1994, when he announced he would share his office with Semel. On November 16, 1995, Daly and Semel added the Warner Music Group to their responsibilities and also became chairmen and co-chief executive officers of Warner Music Group. On July 15, 1999, Daly and Semel announced they would not seek to renew their contracts with Time Warner (the parent company of Warner Bros. and the parent company at the time of the Warner Music Group), which expired at the end of 1999.^[5]

During the Daly/Semel era at Warner Bros., the motion pictures they are credited with garnered 13 Best Picture Oscar nominations, three of which were winners. The three Oscar winners that Daly and Semel helped steer were Chariots of Fire, Driving Miss Daisy and Unforgiven. Daly and Semel oversaw many Warner Bros. television series, including China Beach, Murphy Brown, Friends and ER. Daly and Semel are responsible for creating the current model of co-financing motion pictures while retaining worldwide distribution^{[citation needed]}; and for extending brands like Batman, Superman and Looney Tunes characters into franchises, licensed products and into worldwide retail stores.

However, some people felt the two had been stretched too far in trying to oversee such a massive conglomerate. In a 1997 interview that Mr. Daly gave for the New York Times it is said "Mr. Daly brushed aside the notion that he and Mr. Semel are stretched too thin. 'If we were, we wouldn't have taken the job...'[.]"^[6]

Los Angeles Dodgers[]

Daly went to the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball organization after 19 years at Warner Bros. He served as managing partner, chairman and chief executive officer of the Los Angeles Dodgers, overseeing all operations of the organization.^[7] Daly stepped down from The Dodgers after four and a half years, when the organization was sold in 2004.^[8]

Save The Children[]

Daly completed his term as chairman of the board of trustees for Save the Children on February 28, 2010. In his five years as Board Chair, he oversaw annual program growth averaging 13.5 percent, serving 48 million children in 2008. He also spearheaded the creation of Save the Children's first domestic response unit in the United States, which has proven successful in responding to disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, Gustave and Ike. In his final months as chairman, Daly was actively involved in the Haitian earthquake relief effort.

Personal life[]

Daly married songwriter and lyricist Carole Bayer Sager in 1996. The couple live in Los Angeles.^[9][10] Daly was previously married to Nancy MacNeil (1941-2009), with whom he has three children, and one step son with Bayer Sager.^[11][12] Daly also owns a ranch where he raises chickens, sheep, goats, miniature horses and plants tomatoes.^[3] Daly has seven grandchildren.^[3]

References[]