William G. Clotworthy (January 13, 1926 – August 19, 2021) was an American television censor and author.
He was the primary censor for ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'' from 1979 to 1991. In addition to his television work, he authored several books on American history.
Career
Early career
He attended
college
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...
. After attending college, he was an
NBC page
The NBC Page Program is a 12-month paid fellowship at the NBCUniversal's studios in New York City and Universal City, California. Over the course of one year, pages gain exposure to various areas of the NBCUniversal portfolio. Pages contribute to ...
for a period of time.
Advertising
Clotworthy spent 28 years in the
advertising
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
industry before his career as a television censor.
He joined
BBDO (Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn), a
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
advertising agency, in 1950, largely working in television and radio matters.
In this role he was the ad liason for many shows, including ''
You Bet Your Life'', ''
Your Hit Parade'', and ''
General Electric Theater'' starring future President
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
.
He later moved to the
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
office where his responsibities were expanded. He left BBDO in the late 1970s.
Television censor
Following this, Clotworthy returned to
NBC to become an executive for
standards and practices
In the United States, Standards and Practices (also referred to as Broadcast Standards and Practices or BS&P for short) is the name traditionally given to the department at a television network which is responsible for the moral, ethical, and leg ...
.
He was the NBC Director of Broadcast Standards from 1979 to 1991.
His nickname at ''SNL'' was "Doctor No".
Personal life and death
Clotworthy died on August 19, 2021, at the age of 95, in Salt Lake City, Utah. His death was announced by his son Robert. He had been in
hospice care
Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life by ...
.
Books
*''Homes and Libraries of the Presidents'' (McDonald & Woodward, 1995)
*''Presidential Sites: A Directory of Places Associated with Presidents of the United States'' (University of Nebraska Press, 1996)
*''Saturday Night Live: Equal Opportunity Offender: The Uncensored Censor'' (Author House, 2001)
*''In the Footsteps of George Washington: A Guide to Sites Commemorating Our First President'' (University of Nebraska Press, 2002)
*''Homes of the First Ladies: A Guide to Publicly Accessible Homes, Museums, and Related Sites'' (McDonald & Woodward, 2010)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clotworthy, William
1926 births
2021 deaths
American writers