Born in Pittsburgh, PA. When producer Robert Saudek died, his New York Times obituary called him "the alchemist-in-chief of what is often called the golden age of television." From 1952 to 1961, the product of Saudek's alchemy was "Omnibus," a weekly that did what public TV now aspires to do, but on commercial network TV. It turned out to be one of the last but finest gasps of the Cooperation Doctrine -- the notion that commercial broadcasting could ignore the bottom line and the largest available audience. During its eight-season run, "Omnibus" aired on all three commercial networks -- four seasons on CBS, one on ABC and the last three on NBC. From beginning to end, "Omnibus" held a loyal audience, which ranged from about 4 million homes in the first season to 5.7 million in the 1958-59 season. It won more than 65 awards, including seven Emmys®. Before being hired to produce "Omnibus," Saudek had been a Peabody-Award-winning documentary producer and v.p. for public affairs at ABC Radio. Having already established a reputation as a rising star at ABC by producing such programs as a radio adaptation of John Hersey's Hiroshima, Saudek combined rock-solid character, superb administrative skills, refined artistic sensibilities, and a fearlessness in spending the Ford Foundation's $1.2 milllion startup money. As he later remarked about the TV Workshop's budget, "We should take the money and blow it, and we should blow it in a big way." Above all, Saudek was a cultural impresario and producer, who understood the harsh and unforgiving demands of live broadcasting. Michael Ritchie, Saudek's assistant who went on to direct films such as DOWNHILL RACER and THE CANDIDATE, put it this way: "Television is a producer's medium, and nobody exemplifies that more than Bob Saudek. He thrived on chaos. I think that he did his best work when his back was against the wall, and it looked as if nothing could possibly get on the air, and yet something had to get on the air. And that of course was one of the great virtues of live television: the gun was to your head, you couldn't just say, 'Well, I'm going to go off and think about it for a month.'" Bob Saudek had a knack for hiring people to help him who shared his gifts and vision for the program, beginning with Alistair Cooke, and including feature editor Mary Ahern, production designer Henry May, film supervisor Boris Kaplan, associate producers John Coburn Turner and Paul Feigay, and business manager George Benson. Almost without exception, these people remained fiercely loyal to "Omnibus" throughout its run. Indeed, Saudek created a culture of integrity, good taste, attention to detail, and commitment to excellence and authenticity in every aspect of production which remained remarkably consistent from the first show to the last.  Nominated for Documentary (Features) 1962: THE ROAD TO THE WALL - Producer 1 nomination