Edward J. Yates (September 16, 1918 – June 2, 2006) was an American television director who was the director of the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

television program ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pro ...

'' from 1952 until 1969.

Biography

Yates became a still photographer after graduating from high school in 1936. After serving in World War II, he became employed by

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

WFIL-TV WPVI-TV (channel 6), branded on-air as 6 ABC, is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station ...

as a boom microphone operator. He was later promoted to cameraman (important as most programming was done live and local during the early years of television) and earned a bachelor's degree in communications in 1950 from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. In October 1952, Yates volunteered to direct ''Bandstand'', a new concept featuring local teens dancing to the latest hits patterned after the "950 Club" on WPEN-AM. The show debuted with Bob Horn as host and took off after

Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 198 ...

, already a radio veteran at age 26, took over in 1956. It was broadcast live in its early years, even after it became part of the ABC network's weekday afternoon lineup in 1957 as ''

''. Yates pulled records, directed the cameras, queued the commercials and communicated with Clark via a private line telephone located on his podium. In 1964, Clark moved the show to Los Angeles, taking Yates with him. Yates retired from ''American Bandstand'' in 1969, and moved his family to the Philadelphia

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

of West Chester. He died in 2006 at a

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to in ...

where he had been for the last two months of his life.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yates, Edward 1918 births 2006 deaths American television directors Television personalities from Philadelphia American military personnel of World War II People from Yeadon, Pennsylvania