Merrie Marcia Spaeth (born August 23, 1948) is an American

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

and communications consultant.

Early life and education

Spaeth is the daughter of Dr. Philip G. Spaeth and Marcia Ryan Spaeth. She attended

Germantown Friends School Germantown Friends School (GFS) is a coeducational independent PreK–12 school in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States under the supervision of Germantown Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Fr ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. In 1970, Spaeth graduated with honors from Smith College and later earned an MBA from Columbia Business School, where she graduated '' cum laude''.

Career

At the age of 15, Spaeth was cast to play Marian "Gil" Gilbert in ''

The World of Henry Orient ''The World of Henry Orient'' is a 1964 American comedy film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Peter Sellers, Paula Prentiss, Angela Lansbury, Tippy Walker, Merrie Spaeth, Phyllis Thaxter, Bibi Osterwald and Tom Bosley. It is based o ...

''. Between 1970 and 1978, Spaeth wrote for numerous print publications and was a reporter for several local television stations. Additionally, Spaeth was a speechwriter for

William S. Paley William Samuel Paley (September 28, 1901 – October 26, 1990) was an American businessman, primarily involved in the media, and best known as the chief executive who built the Columbia Broadcasting System ( CBS) from a small radio network into ...

, founder and chairman of

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

. In 1978 Spaeth hosted and produced a nightly television show in Columbus, Ohio, for Warner-Amex Cable. In 1979, Spaeth was a producer for ''20/20,'' where she produced segments on

Liberace Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer, and actor. A child prodigy born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin, he enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordi ...

, gifted children and motorcycle gangs. In the early 1980s, Spaeth was accepted to the

White House Fellows The White House Fellows program is a federal fellowship program established via Executive Order by President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson in October 1964, based upon a suggestion from John W. Gardner, then the president of Carnegie Cor ...

program where she was assigned to work under FBI Director William Webster as his special assistant, after which she worked for two years as director of public affairs for the Federal Trade Commission. In 1983, she became White House Director of Media Relations in the administration of Ronald Reagan, serving until 1985. After moving to Dallas with her husband, Spaeth founded Spaeth Communications in 1987. In the 1990s, Spaeth taught BLC (business leadership center) seminar classes at the

Cox School of Business The Edwin L. Cox School of Business is an American business school, part of Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas. The SMU Cox School of Business is headquartered in four buildings on SMU's 210-acre main campus five miles north ...

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth

During the 2004 presidential campaign, Spaeth advised the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group that questioned the Democratic presidential candidate

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...

’s

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

record. Since the 2004 election, the term "Swift Boating" (or "swiftboating") has become a common expression for a campaign attacking opponents by questioning their credibility and patriotism in a dishonest manner. The term is most often used with the pejorative meaning of a smear campaign. Spaeth has referred to her involvement in this campaign as her “biggest regret.”

Work with Ken Starr

Spaeth was hired as a communications consultant to Ken Starr, an attorney who served as

Solicitor General of the United States The solicitor general of the United States is the fourth-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. Elizabeth Prelogar has been serving in the role since October 28, 2021. The United States solicitor general represent ...

under George H. W. Bush and

Special prosecutor In the United States, a special counsel (formerly called special prosecutor or independent counsel) is a lawyer appointed to investigate, and potentially prosecute, a particular case of suspected wrongdoing for which a conflict of interest exis ...

for the

Whitewater controversy The Whitewater controversy, Whitewater scandal, Whitewatergate, or simply Whitewater, was an American political controversy during the 1990s. It began with an investigation into the real estate investments of Bill and Hillary Clinton and their as ...

during the Clinton Administration. Starr was then serving as President of

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the ...

during the

Baylor University sexual assault scandal The Baylor University sexual assault scandal was the result of numerous allegations of and convictions for sexual and non-sexual assaults committed by Baylor University students, mostly players in the Baylor Bears football team. During a period ...

. As president, Starr had received email messages from a female student who claimed that she had been raped, though he later denied receiving the messages. In a television interview with

KWTX-TV KWTX-TV (channel 10) is a television station in Waco, Texas, United States, serving Central Texas as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Belton-licensed CW affiliate KNCT (channel 46). Both stations share studios on ...

, Spaeth was present and periodically stopped the interview to coach Starr on his answers about the controversy.

Publications

Spaeth contributed to the

Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) is the code department of the Illinois state government that sponsors statewide economic development, with special emphases on increasing minority entrepreneurship, promoting the ...

from 2006 to 2010 writing columns on executive communication. Additionally, Spaeth has written for ''HR Executive,

PRWeek ''PRWeek'' is a trade magazine for the public relations industry. The original UK edition was the brainchild of the late Geoffrey Lace who at the time worked for Haymarket. After failing to interest Haymarket in his idea he left to launch it on ...

, Bank Marketing, Public Diplomacy, Modern Healthcare, PRSA Strategist'', and ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

''. She has written three books: ''Marketplace Communication'', ''Words Matter'', and ''You Don’t Say!''

Personal life

Spaeth was previously married to Robert S. Thanhauser Jr. In 1984, she married "Tex" Lezar, who served as a counselor to

William French Smith William French Smith II (August 26, 1917 – October 29, 1990) was an American lawyer and the 74th United States Attorney General. After attaining his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1942, Smith went on to join the law firm of Gibson, Du ...

and later as

United States Assistant Attorney General Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice are headed by an assistant attorney general. The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the advice and ...

for the Office of Legal Policy. They have three children. Lezar died on January 5, 2004. Spaeth is a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

References

* https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/18/style/merrie-spaeth-is-married-to-tex-lezar.html * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrCZyAsrJNc * http://www.spaethcom.com/article/suddenly-a-star-in-the-house

External links

*Mike Hofman
"In a Former Life: Merrie Spaeth"
''Inc. magazine'', March 2000.
Executive bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spaeth, Merrie 1948 births Living people Columbia Business School alumni Smith College alumni Actresses from Philadelphia American child actresses American film actresses American public relations people Germantown Friends School alumni 20th-century American actresses