Jac Venza, the producer who pioneered programs such as and , has died. He was 97. Venza died on Tuesday at his home in Lyme, Connecticut, his spouse, Daniel D.
Routhier, told the on Sunday. Venza began work designing sets at CBS in 1950, before going on to lead cultural programming at National Education Television (NET) in 1964. That network later became The WNET Group, home of New York’s flagship PBS station, THIRTEEN.
“I realized,” , “that the finest artists had not been asked to join television in a major way. To succeed, public television needed performances.” Venza launched the Emmy-winning in 1972, which also included , and .
Over the years, he worked with the likes of George Balanchine, Martha Graham, Leonard Bernstein, Tennessee Williams and more. Dustin Hoffman appeared in his first starring role on television in a 1966 production of “The Journey of the Fifth Horse” on NET. Venza’s programming thus laid the groundwork for the theater, opera, music and dance still showcased on PBS today.
“To present fine artists in prime time, we have to do it at least as elegantly as CBS does ,” Venza continued in 1982, a reference to the prime-time soap opera which ran from 1978 to 1991. “Commercial television is the most slickly, professionally produced in the world. So when a fine artist gives me something, I want to make sure it is well produced.
” In 1997, Venza became the director of WNET’s cultural and arts programs, after which he further expanded THI.
