Leonard H. Goldenson (December 7, 1905 – December 27, 1999) was a
president of the U.S. television and radio network ABC.
Contents
1 Early life and career
2 Career at ABC
3 Personal life
4 References
5 External links
Early life and career[edit]
Goldenson was born to a Jewish family[1][2] in Pennsylvania in 1905.
He grew up in the town of
Scottdale, Pennsylvania

Scottdale, Pennsylvania and graduated from
Scottdale High School. He was educated at Harvard, and entered the
entertainment industry in 1933 as an attorney for Paramount Pictures
after graduating from Harvard Law School. Goldenson was hired to help
reorganize United Paramount Theatres, Paramount's theater chain, which
at the time was nearing bankruptcy. So skillful was his work at this
assignment that Paramount's chief executive officer, Barney Balaban,
hired Goldenson as deputy to the manager of the Paramount Theaters
chain.
Career at ABC[edit]
Goldenson orchestrated the merger of
United Paramount Theatres

United Paramount Theatres with
ABC in 1953 (after Paramount was ordered to spin it off in the wake of
United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., a 1948 decree of the U.S.
Supreme Court). ABC was originally formed in 1943 in the wake of an
earlier Supreme Court decree effectively ordering the spinoff of the
largely secondary-status
Blue Network

Blue Network from its then-parent, NBC; its
buyer, industrialist Edward J. Noble, tried to build ABC into a
competitive Broadcasting company, but by 1951 was rumored to be on the
verge of selling the nearly bankrupt operation to CBS, whose
management apparently wanted ABC's critically important
owned-and-operated television stations.[3][4]
Goldenson rescued ABC by convincing his board of directors to buy the
company from Noble for $25 million. becoming the founding president of
the merged company which was named American Broadcasting-Paramount
Theatres. The modern ABC dates its history from the effective date of
the Goldenson transaction, and not the
Blue Network

Blue Network spinoff.
Although he focused chiefly on ABC Television, Goldenson oversaw all
areas of ABC-Paramount's entertainment/media operations for over
thirty years, from 1951 to 1986, including the creation of the AmPar
Record Corporation in 1955 and the 'rebadging' of the ABC-Paramount
group as the
American Broadcasting Company

American Broadcasting Company in 1968.[5] Goldenson also
was instrumental in the sale of ABC to Capital Cities Communications
in 1986, which at the time, was the largest non-oil merger in history.
Very early on in his tenure, Goldenson also hired the first
African-American staff announcer in network television and radio
history, Sid McCoy.
Personal life[edit]
His wife was Isabelle Charlotte Weinstein, co-founder of United
Cerebral Palsy.[6] Goldenson, whose first-born daughter Cookie was
born with cerebral palsy, co-founded
United Cerebral Palsy

United Cerebral Palsy in 1949 and
used station WBKB (at the time owned by United Paramount Theatres) to
be the flagship station for the inaugural UCP telethon that year.
In 1974, Mr. Goldenson received The Hundred Year Association of New
York's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions
to the City of New York." The Leonard H. Goldenson Theater at the
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences building in North Hollywood,
California is named in his honor. Goldenson was inducted into the
Television Hall of Fame in 1987.
Goldenson was known for always flying economy class and never driving
a new car.[7]
He died on December 27, 1999 at the age of 94.[7] He was survived by
his wife and his two daughters: Loreen Goldenson Arbus and Maxine
Goldenson.[7] His daughter Loreen Arbus was the first woman to head
programming at a major television network at Showtime Networks.[8]
References[edit]
^ Los Angeles Times: "Hollywood Star Walk - Leonard H. Goldenson"
retrieved December 25, 2015
^ Goldberg, J. J. (1996). Jewish Power. Addison Wesley. p. 286.
ISBN 0-201-32798-8.
^ Murray, Michael D.; Godfrey, Donald G., eds. (1997). Television in
America: Local Station History from Across the Nation. Ames, IA: Iowa
State Press. p. 11. ISBN 0-8138-2969-0.
^ Quinlan, Sterling (1979). Inside ABC: American Broadcasting
Company's rise to power. New York: Hastings House. p. 17.
ISBN 0-8038-6765-4.
^ Ashley Kahn; The House That Coltrane Built (Granta Books, London,
2006), p.284
^ Jewish Women's Archive: "ISABELLE CHARLOTTE WEINSTEIN GOLDENSON
-Disability Rights Activist, Co-founder of
United Cerebral Palsy

United Cerebral Palsy 1921
– 2005" retrieved December 25, 2015
^ a b c New York Times: "Leonard Goldenson, Force Behind ABC, Is Dead
at 94" By FELICITY BARRINGER December 28, 1999
^ We News: "‘My Passion, My Philanthropy’: Loreen Arbus’ Work
Defined By Marginalization" by Loreen Arbus March 16, 2017
External links[edit]
Leonard Goldenson at the Museum of Broadcast Communications
Leonard Goldenson Official Website
Leonard Goldenson on IMDb
Disney Legends profile
Leonard Goldenson interview video at the Archive of American
Television
Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre
Appearances on C-SPAN
v
t
e
Television Hall of Fame Class of 1987
Johnny Carson
Jacques Cousteau
Leonard Goldenson
Jim Henson
Bob Hope
Ernie Kovacs
Eric Sevareid
v
t
e
Presidents of American Broadcasting Company
Key people
Edward John Noble

Edward John Noble (1943–1951)
Robert E. Kintner (1949—1956)
Leonard Goldenson (1951–1986)
Elton Rule (1972–1983)
John Severino (1981–1985)
Mark Mandala (1985–1994)
Daniel Burke (1986–1994)
Bob Iger

Bob Iger (1994–1995)
Steve Bornstein (1999–2002)
Alex Wallau (2000)
Anne Sweeney (April 2004–January 2015)
Ben Sherwood

Ben Sherwood (January 2015–present)
v
t
e
International Emmy Directorate Award
Charles Curran (1973)
Joseph V. Charyk (1974)
Junzo Imamichi (1975)
Talbot S. Duckmanton /
Roberto Marinho /
Howard Thomas (1976)
Alphonse Quimet (1977)
Frank Stanton (1979)
Lew Grade

Lew Grade (1980)
Huw Wheldon

Huw Wheldon (1981)
Akio Morita
.jpg)
Akio Morita (1982)
Roberto Marinho (1983)
Sidney Bernstein (1984)
Leonard Goldenson (1985)
Herbert Schmertz

Herbert Schmertz (1986)
Jeremy Isaacs (1987)
Vittorio Boni (1988)
Ted Turner

Ted Turner (1989)
Henrikas Yushkiavitshus (1990)
Henry Becton (1991)
Silvio Berlusconi
_cropped.jpg/440px-Silvio_Berlusconi_(2010)_cropped.jpg)
Silvio Berlusconi (1992)
Andre Rousselet (1993)
Helmut Thoma (1944)
Jonh Birt (1995)
Herbert A. Granath (1996)
Dieter Stolte (1997)
Sam Nilsson (1998)
Ralph Baruch (1999)
Su-Ming Cheng (2000)
Gustavo Cisneros

Gustavo Cisneros (2001)
Katsuji Ebisawa (2002)
Greg Dyke

Greg Dyke (2003)
Herbert Kloiber (2004)
Charles Allen (2005)
Ronald S. Lauder

Ronald S. Lauder (2006)
Patrick Le Lay (2007)
Liu Changle (2008)
Markus Schächter (2009)
Lorne Michaels
.jpg/440px-Lorne_Michaels_(8892275065).jpg)
Lorne Michaels (2010)
Subhash Chandra

Subhash Chandra (2011)
Kim In-Kyu (2012)
Anke Schäferkordt (2013)
Roberto Irineu Marinho

Roberto Irineu Marinho (2014)
Richard Plepler
.jpg/440px-Richard_Plepler_&_Nikolaj_Coster-Waldau,_May_2012_(1).jpg)
Richard Plepler (2015)
Maria Rørbye Rønn (2016)
Emilio Azcárraga Jean

Emilio Azcárraga Jean (2017)
Authority control
WorldCat Identities
VIAF: 80542499
LCCN: n87134