JV
Jac Venza
Producer, Director, Actor, Additional Credits
Born December 23, 1926Died May 28, 2024 (97 years)
Jac Venza was a public television producer who was directly responsible for most of the theatre and music programs that have been seen on PBS since its creation in 1970. From the early 1960s until his retirement in 2005, Venza brought such programs as NET Playhouse, Live from Lincoln Center, American Playhouse, American Masters, and Great Performances to millions of viewers. He won a Personal Peabody Award in 1998.
He began his career on CBS in the 1950s, where he began to notice the scarcity of programming devoted to the fine arts on television. It was his dream to bring more of it to the home screen on a regular basis, but he did not receive a full opportunity to do so until the creation of National Educational Television, where it soon became possible, thanks largely to Venza, to see great dramatic literature regularly performed by some of the world's most renowned actors. A then-unknown Dustin Hoffman made his first major television appearance in a play - Ronald Ribman's The Journey of the Fifth Horse - on NET in 1966. NET Playhouse was perhaps the first television anthology to present commercial-free, full-length productions (rather than one-hour or ninety-minute adaptations) of theatrical classics such as Arthur Miller's adaptation of Ibsen's An Enemy of the People. When NET became PBS, Venza quickly launched Great Performances, which is still running today.
Upon his retirement from PBS, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting awarded Venza the Ralph Lowell medal. He held the record for the most Emmy nominations for an individual - 57 - until 2010.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
He began his career on CBS in the 1950s, where he began to notice the scarcity of programming devoted to the fine arts on television. It was his dream to bring more of it to the home screen on a regular basis, but he did not receive a full opportunity to do so until the creation of National Educational Television, where it soon became possible, thanks largely to Venza, to see great dramatic literature regularly performed by some of the world's most renowned actors. A then-unknown Dustin Hoffman made his first major television appearance in a play - Ronald Ribman's The Journey of the Fifth Horse - on NET in 1966. NET Playhouse was perhaps the first television anthology to present commercial-free, full-length productions (rather than one-hour or ninety-minute adaptations) of theatrical classics such as Arthur Miller's adaptation of Ibsen's An Enemy of the People. When NET became PBS, Venza quickly launched Great Performances, which is still running today.
Upon his retirement from PBS, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting awarded Venza the Ralph Lowell medal. He held the record for the most Emmy nominations for an individual - 57 - until 2010.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jac Venza Filmography
| 2004 | Broadway: The American Musical (TV Series) · as Executive Producer |
| 2002 | Stage on Screen: The Topdog Diaries · as Executive Producer |
| 2002 | Stage on Screen: The Women · as Executive Producer |
| 2002 | Fosse · as Executive Producer |
| 2000 | The Man Who Came to Dinner · as Executive Producer |
| 2000 | La Traviata · as Executive Producer |
| 1999 | The Art of Piano · as Executive Producer |
| 1994 | The World of Jim Henson · as Executive Producer |
| 1994 | Broadway at the Hollywood Bowl · as Executive Producer |
| 1992 | Kiss-Kiss, Dahlings! · as Executive Producer |
| 1991 | The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez · as Co-Producer |
| 1991 | Performance (TV Series) · as Executive Producer |
| 1988 | James Stewart's Wonderful Life · as Executive Producer |
| 1988 | Bacall on Bogart · as Executive Producer |
| 1987 | Tales from the Hollywood Hills: Pat Hobby Teamed with Genius · as Executive Producer |
| 1987 | Tales from the Hollywood Hills: Natica Jackson · as Executive Producer |
| 1987 | James Stewart: A Wonderful Life - Hosted by Johnny Carson · as Executive Producer |
| 1985 | American Masters (TV Series) · as Executive Producer |
| 1985 | Judy Garland: The Concert Years · as Executive Producer |
| 1983 | Alice in Wonderland · as Executive Producer |
| 1981 | Brideshead Revisited (TV Series) · as Executive Producer |
| 1980 | American Playhouse (TV Series) · as Executive Producer |
| 1978 | Mourning Becomes Electra (TV Series) |
| 1978 | Tartuffe · as Executive Producer |
| 1978 | The Trial of the Moke · as Executive Producer |
| 1977 | Hard Times (TV Series) |
| 1976 | The Taming of the Shrew · as Executive Producer |
| 1976 | The Adams Chronicles (TV Series) · as Executive Producer |
| 1972 | Between Time and Timbuktu · as Executive Producer |
| 1972 | |
| 1971 | |
| 1971 | Great Performances (TV Series) · as Executive Producer |
| 1970 | Play for Today (TV Series) |
| 1967 | Omnibus (1967) (TV Series) · as Executive Producer |
| 1966 | |
| 1966 | |
| 1966 | |
| 1964 | NET Playhouse (TV Series) · as Executive Producer |
| 1959 | The New Year's Concert by Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (TV Series) · as Executive Producer |
| 1964 | NET Playhouse (TV Series) |
| 2022 | An American Ballet Story · as Cast |
| 1999 | The 53rd Annual Tony Awards · as Executive Producer: Pbs Segment |
| 1998 | Busby Berkeley: Going Through the Roof · as Executive Producer: Thirteen/wnet |
| 1997 | The Great Composers (TV Series) · as Executive Producer: Thirteen/wnet |
| 1987 | Tales from the Hollywood Hills: A Table at Ciro's · as Executive Producer: Great Performances |
| 1976 | The Time of Your Life · as Executive Producer: Theater In America |
| 1961 | Twenty-Four Hours in a Woman's Life · as Production Design |
| 1959 | The Play of the Week (TV Series) · as Production Designer |
| 1958 | Wonderful Town · as Production Design |
| 1949 | I Remember Mama (TV Series) · as Art Director |