Jimmy Hirschfeld (born January 9, 1929) is an American television director and producer known for his work on ''

Captain Kangaroo ''Captain Kangaroo'' is an American children's television series that aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for 29 years, from 1955 to 1984, making it the longest-running nationally broadcast children's television program ...

'' and '' Picture Pages''.

Biography

In 1951, Hirschfeld took a job as a stagehand with

WCAU-TV WCAU (channel 10) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned and operated by the NBC television network through its NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Mount Laurel, New Jersey–licensed Tel ...

under Bill Bode where he eventually worked his way up Assistant Director. In 1954, he became a staff director (under

John Facenda John Thomas Ralph Augustine James Facenda ( ; August 8, 1913September 26, 1984) was an American broadcaster and sports announcer. He was a fixture on Philadelphia radio and television for decades, and achieved national fame as a narrator for N ...

) and then producer and director for the "Shock Theater" which starred

John Zacherle John Zacherle ( ; sometimes credited as John Zacherley; September 26, 1918 – October 27, 2016) was an American television host, radio personality, singer, and voice actor. He was best known for his long career as a television horror host, oft ...

. Hirschfeld was also the director of numerous WCAU-TV documentaries and for shows produced by Gene London and Jane Norman's '' Pixanne'' telecasts. He directed various shows during his career including the Philadelphia segments of the ''CBS Thanksgiving Parade'' (1959 to 1979); the annual ''Philadelphia Orchestra Concerts'' series (1960 to 1989) and;

NFL Football The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

broadcasts for

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

(which owned WCAU-TV at the time) from 1960 to 1980. In 1967, WCAU-TV named him Program Manager and Executive Producer; and in 1971, he was named Program Director. In 1973, he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

where he was the producer of CBS-TV's ''

.'' In 1978, he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

where he worked for CBS-TV as the producer of the ''

Mary Tyler Moore Mary Tyler Moore (December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017) was an American actress, producer, and social advocate. She is best known for her roles on '' The Dick Van Dyke Show'' (1961–1966) and ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), whic ...

Comedy Hour.'' In 1979, he became the director of "

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American retired comedian, actor, and media personality. Often cited as a trailblazer for African Americans in the entertainment industry, Cosby was a film, television, and stand-up comedy ...

's '' Picture Pages'' also for CBS-TV; and in 1981, he returned to ''Captain Kangaroo'' serving as Director and Executive Producer for CBS-TV and then

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

. Hirschfeld has won 3

Emmy Awards 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 ...

for ''Captain Kangaroo'' (1978, 1983, and 1984); and won the 1981 Gold Award at the International Film and TV Festival for ''Picture Pages.'' On November 22, 2013, he was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia's "Hall of Fame."

Personal life

Hirschfeld was married to Janet Susan Rubner at

Rodeph Shalom Synagogue Congregation Rodeph Shalom (), is an historic Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 615 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Established in 1795, it is the oldest Ashkenazic synagogue in the We ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

; one of their daughters is

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

political analyst

Julie Hirschfeld Davis Julie Hirschfeld Davis (born April 17, 1975) is an American journalist. She is currently the congressional editor for ''The New York Times'' and a political analyst for CNN. She was previously a White House correspondent. Early life Davis was ...

. His wife died in 1998.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hirschfeld, Jimmy American television directors American television producers 1929 births 20th-century American Jews Living people 21st-century American Jews