Jack Willis (June 20, 1934 – February 9, 2022) was an American journalist, writer and filmmaker.

Life and career

Jack Lawrence Willis was born in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

to Louis Willis and Libbie (Feingold) Willis on June 20, 1934. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

in 1956 and graduated from

UCLA School of Law The University of California, Los Angeles School of Law (commonly known as UCLA School of Law or UCLA Law) is the law school of the University of California, Los Angeles. History Founded in 1949, the UCLA School of Law is the third oldest of t ...

in 1962. Jack Willis was the co-founder of

Link TV Link TV, originally WorldLink TV, was a non-commercial American satellite television network providing what it described as "diverse perspectives on world and national issues." It was carried nationally on DirecTV (ch. 375) until January 2023 a ...

a Direct Broadcast Satellite channel currently in over 34 million American homes via

DirecTV DirecTV, LLC is an American Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital Satellite television, s ...

and the

Dish Network DISH Network L.L.C., often referred to as DISH, an abbreviation for Digital Sky Highway, is an American provider of satellite television and IPTV services and wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation. The company was originally establ ...

. He was a producer and executive in commercial, cable and public television. He was a Senior Fellow at

George Soros George Soros (born György Schwartz; August 12, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist. , he has a net worth of US$7.2 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundat ...

Open Society Institute Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is an American grantmaking network founded by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with the s ...

where he developed and directed a program on

media policy Media policy or media politics refers to decisions regarding legislation and political actions that organize, support, or regulate the media, particularly mass media and the media industry. These actions are typically driven by pressures from pub ...

. From 1990 to 1997 he was president and CEO of

Twin Cities Public Television Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. (abbreviated TPT, trade name, doing business as Twin Cities PBS) is a nonprofit organization based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, that operates the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities' two PBS membe ...

. He was also vice-president of programming and production for

CBS Cable CBS Cable was an early but short-lived cable television network operated by CBS, Inc., dedicated to the lively arts (i.e. symphony, dance, theatre, opera, etc.). It debuted on October 12, 1981 and ceased operations on December 17, 1982. CBS Ca ...

, where he developed the critically acclaimed performing arts channel, Director of Statue of Liberty Programming for Metro Media Producer's Corp. and Director of Programming and Production of

WNET WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as Thirteen (stylized as THIRTEEN), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the Educ ...

/13 in New York City. Willis created and produced many award-winning series including the Emmy Award-winning news show ''

The 51st State ''The 51st State'' (also known as ''Formula 51'') is a 2001 action comedy film directed by Ronny Yu, written by Stel Pavlou, and starring Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Carlyle, Emily Mortimer, Ricky Tomlinson, Sean Pertwee, Rhys Ifans, Step ...

'' for WNET/13. He was Co-Executive Producer of PBS's groundbreaking, Emmy winning, ''

The Great American Dream Machine ''The Great American Dream Machine'' was a weekly satirical variety television series, produced in New York City by WNET and broadcast on PBS from 1971 to 1972. The program was hosted by humorist and commentator Marshall Efron. Other notable cast ...

'', and the Emmy-winning series ''City Within a City'', a documentary which was widely credited with helping to achieve passage of Milwaukee's Open Housing Law. He also produced and directed numerous award-winning documentaries. He produced films for

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

as well as ''The Human Animal'' series, with

Phil Donahue Phillip John Donahue (December 21, 1935 – August 18, 2024) was an American media personality, writer, film producer, and the creator and host of '' The Phil Donahue Show''. The television program, later known simply as ''Donahue'', was the fir ...

, for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

. With

Saul Landau Saul Landau (January 15, 1936 – September 9, 2013) was an American journalist, filmmaker and commentator. He was also a professor emeritus at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, where he taught history and digital media. Educa ...

, he produced the independent documentary ''

Paul Jacobs and the Nuclear Gang ''Paul Jacobs and the Nuclear Gang'' is a 1979 political documentary film produced and directed by Jack Willis and Saul Landau, written by Jack Willis and Penny Bernstein, narrated by Penny Bernstein with cinematography by Zack Krieger and Haskell ...

'', about the government cover up of the fatal effects of the Nevada nuclear bomb tests on military personnel and civilians living downwind from the tests, won an Emmy and the

George Polk Award The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the awar ...

for investigative journalism. Two of his films, ''Lay My Burden Down'', about the plight of black sharecroppers in the rural south, and ''Every Seventh Child'', about Catholic education were shown at the

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center. Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, NYFF i ...

. His first film, ''The Streets of Greenwood'' about voting rights in Mississippi, won the gold medal at the

San Francisco Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by SFFILM, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in international film and vi ...

. With his wife, Mary, he wrote several highly rated network movies and co-authored the book ''But There Are Always Miracles.'' He died from assisted suicide in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

on February 9, 2022, at the age of 87.

Films

* ''Stella Adler, Awake and Dream'' (1992) (Executive Producer) * ''The Uncompromising Revolution'' (1990) (Executive Producer) * ''

The House of Mirth ''The House of Mirth'' is a novel by American author Edith Wharton, published on 7 October 1905. It is a sharp, brutal, and destructive tragedy which tells the story of Lily Bart, a well-born but impoverished woman belonging to New York City's ...

'' (1981) (Executive Producer) * ''Summer'' (1981) (Executive Producer) * ''

'' (1979) (Producer, co-director, Writer) – A political documentary about government suppression of the health hazards of low-level radiation. Paul Jacobs died from lung cancer before the documentary was finished. His doctors believed he contracted it while he was investigating nuclear policies in 1957. Jacobs interviewed civilians and soldiers, survivors of nuclear experiments in the 50s and 60s, testing the effects of radiation. The film won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

(1980),

for investigative journalism on TV,

Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award The Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award is an award created in honor of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. The Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Awards were established by Christie Hefner in 1979 to honor individuals who have made significant contributions ...

, and Best Documentary at the

Mannheim Film Festival The Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival (), often referred to by the German-language initialism IFFMH, is an annual film festival established in 1952 hosted jointly by the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg in Baden-Württemberg, the ...

. * ''Power and the Presidency'' (1975) (Producer) * ''The Case Against Milligan'' (1975) (Producer) Emmy-nominated * ''City Within A City'' – Emmy Award-winning documentary about poverty in Wisconsin, widely credited with helping to achieve passage of Milwaukee's Open Housing law. * ''Hard Times in the Country'' (1969) (Producer, Director, Writer) – Cine Gold Eagle, American Film Festival * ''Some of My Best Friends'' (1969) (Producer) * ''Appalachia: Rich Land, Poor People'' (1968) (Producer, Director, Writer) American Film Festival selection * ''Every Seventh Child'', (1967) New York Film Festival selection (Producer, Director, Writer) * ''Newark Town Meeting'' (1967) (Producer) * ''Lay My Burden Down'', (1966) New York Film Festival Selection, Emmy Nominee, Cine Gold Eagle, Brotherhood Award National Conference of Christians and Jews. * ''Crime in the Streets'' (1965) (Producer, Writer, Director) * '' The Image Makers'' (1964) (Producer, Director, Writer) * '' The Quiet Takeover'' (1964) (Producer, Writer) * ''The Streets of Greenwood'' (1963) – GOLD MEDAL at the San Francisco Film Festival

Television Series (as Executive Producer)

* ''The Human Animal'', (1985) * ''The 51st State'' (1971) 4 Emmys WNET/13 * ''

'' (1970) 2 Emmys * ''City Within A City'' – (1968) Emmy, widely credited with helping to achieve passage of Milwaukee's Open Housing law

Two-Hour Teleplays (with Mary Pleshette Willis)

* ''Seizure'' (1980) * ''A Question of Guilt'' (1978) * ''Some Kind of Miracle'' (1976)

Books

* ''But There are Always Miracles''

Viking Adult Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheimer and then acqui ...

1974

Awards

* Emmy Award * George Polk Award for Investigative Reporting *

* Mannheim Film Festival: Critics' First Prize

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Jack 1934 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American male writers American documentary film directors American television executives Businesspeople from Milwaukee Deaths by euthanasia University of California, Los Angeles alumni 2022 suicides