Roger Gimbel (March 11, 1925 – April 26, 2011) was an American

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon acce ...

who specialized in television movies. Many of Gimbel's television films dealt with real-life events, including '' Chernobyl: The Final Warning'', '' S.O.S. Titanic'', '' The Amazing Howard Hughes'', and ''

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman is a 1971 historical novel by American author Ernest J. Gaines. Framed as the fictional oral history of a 110-year-old African American woman, Jane Pittman, the novel traces her life from enslavement at th ...

''. Often, Gimbel's films also focused on serious societal problems, including

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

, and

domestic abuse Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. In a broader sense, abuse including nonphysical abuse in such settings is called domestic abuse. The term "domestic violence" is often use ...

. Gimbel produced more than 50 television films and specials, which earned eighteen

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 ...

Biography

Gimbel was born in

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 ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, on March 11, 1925, into the family who owned the

Gimbels Gimbel Brothers (known simply as Gimbels) was an American department store corporation that operated for over a century, from 1842 until 1987. Gimbel patriarch Adam Gimbel opened his first store in Vincennes, Indiana, in 1842. In 1887, the comp ...

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...

. His parents were Julia (née de Fernex Millhiser) and the Col. Richard Gimbel, U.S.A.F.New York Times: "Miss Warren Wed To Roger Gimbel"
June 7, 1976 He enrolled at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, where he studied

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

. Gimbel served as a member of the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1973, Gimbel won an

Emmy 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 catego ...

with George Schaefer for their work as the executive producers of ''

A War of Children A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...

'' (1972), which centered on

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

and

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

friends during the

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

conflict. His other credits as producer include '' The Glass House'' (1972), '' I Heard the Owl Call My Name'' (1973), ''

'' (1974), ''Tell Me Where It Hurts'' (1974), ''

Queen of the Stardust Ballroom ''Queen of the Stardust Ballroom'' is an American musical television movie directed by Sam O'Steen and produced by Roger Gimbel, from the teleplay by Jerome Kass. It was broadcast by CBS on February 13, 1975. Maureen Stapleton, Charles Dur ...

'' (1975), '' The Amazing Howard Hughes'' (1977), '' Shattered Dreams'' (1990), and '' Chernobyl: The Final Warning'' (1991).

Personal life

Gimbel was married three times. His first marriage ended in divorce; his second wife, Nancy Straus Gimbel, died in 1972. In 1976, Gimbel married his third wife, actress

Jennifer Warren Jennifer Warren (born August 12, 1941) is an American actress, producer and film director. Early life and education Warren's uncle was Yiddish theatre actor and director Jacob Ben-Ami. Career Warren made her Broadway debut in 1972 in '' 6 Rms ...

. Roger Gimbel died from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, Tertiary referral hospital, tertiary, 915-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre, academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars ...

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, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, on April 26, 2011, at the age of 86. He had four children with his second wife: Jeff, Stephen Martin (predeceased), Sam, and Liza; and a son, Barney, with Warren. At one time when he lived in an 18th-floor Sutton Place apartment overlooking the

East River The East River is a saltwater Estuary, tidal estuary or strait in New York City. The waterway, which is not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island, ...

, he liked to catch fish from his apartment window.New York Times: "Sutton Place Man Catches Eels From His 18th-Story Window"
May 12, 1960, page 37

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gimbel, Roger 1925 births 2011 deaths American people of German-Jewish descent Television producers from Pennsylvania Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) Deaths from pneumonia in California Primetime Emmy Award winners Businesspeople from Philadelphia

Roger Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...