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 ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

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 land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

in 1956 and graduated from

UCLA School of Law The UCLA School of Law is one of 12 professional schools at the University of California, Los Angeles. UCLA Law has been consistently ranked by '' U.S. News & World Report'' as one of the top 20 law schools in the United States since the inception ...

in 1962. Jack Willis was the co-founder of

Link TV Link TV, originally WorldLink TV, is a non-commercial American satellite television network providing what it describes as "diverse perspectives on world and national issues." It is carried nationally on DirecTV (ch. 375) and Dish Network (ch. ...

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

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...

and the

Dish Network DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling TV. A ...

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

George Soros George Soros ( name written in eastern order), (born György Schwartz, August 12, 1930) is a Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist. , he had a net worth of US$8.6 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated mo ...

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

where he developed and directed a program on

media policy Media policy / M. politics is a term describing all legislation and political action directed towards regulating the media, especially mass media, and the media industry. Those actions will usually be prompted by pressures from public opinion or f ...

. From 1990 to 1997 he was president and CEO of

Twin Cities Public Television Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. (abbreviated TPT, doing business as Twin Cities PBS) is a nonprofit organization based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, that operates the Twin Cities' two PBS member television stations, KTCA-TV (channe ...

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

CBS Cable CBS Cable was an early 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 Cable was a persona ...

, 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 ...

/13 in New York City. Willis created and produced many award-winning series including the Emmy Award-winning news show ''The 51st State'' for WNET/13. He was Co-Executive Producer of PBS' 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 service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...

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

Phil Donahue Phillip John Donahue (born December 21, 1935) is 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 first talk show forma ...

, for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

. 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'', 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 award ...

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 (FLC). Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, it is ...

. 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 the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in in ...

. 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 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 1905 novel by American author Edith Wharton. It tells the story of Lily Bart, a well-born but impoverished woman belonging to New York City's high society around the end of the 19th century. Wharton creates a portrait ...

'' (1981) (Executive Producer) *''Summer'' (1981) (Executive Producer) *'' Paul Jacobs and the Nuclear Gang'' (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 American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

(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 in 1979 to honor individuals who have made significant contributions in the vital effort ...

, and Best Documentary at the

Mannheim Film Festival The Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival (german: Internationales Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg), often referred to by the German-language initialism IFFMH, is an annual film festival established in 1952 hosted jointly by the cit ...

. *''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 ''The Image Makers'' ( sv, Bildmakarna) is a 2000 Swedish television play directed by Ingmar Bergman and written by Per Olov Enquist. The drama is set in the year 1920 at Filmstaden where the film director Victor Sjöström is shooting the film ...

'' (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. Oppenheim and then acquire ...

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