Sanford Socolow (November 11, 1928 – January 31, 2015) was an American broadcast journalist who worked at CBS News from 1956 to 1988. He was executive producer of The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite from 1978 to 1981.

Early life

Socolow was born in New York City to Adolfo Socolow and Sarah Mindich Socolow on November 11, 1928. As a child he was nicknamed "Sandy," the name which he would come to use throughout his life. The family soon moved to a farm in Connecticut but was forced to return to New York City during the Depression.[1] Sanford Socolow graduated from Stuyvesant High School and matriculated at Baruch College, but left Baruch for City College of New York following his freshman year. At CCNY Socolow majored in history and was named editor-in-chief of The Campus in 1949. Graduating in 1950, Socolow went to work as a copy boy at The New York Times but was soon drafted into the Army.[2]

Military experience

Socolow attended officer candidate school at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where he trained as a forward artillery observer, graduating June 3, 1952. He received psychological warfare training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and as a second lieutenant was sent to Japan where he worked with a broadcast propaganda unit during the Korean War. Following the war and his honorable discharge, Socolow joined the International News Service in Tokyo. He covered Asia as a wire service reporter before returning to the United States in 1955 .[3]

Early television

Socolow was hired as a writer on the WABD news program Mike Wallace and the News in 1956. Working with Ted Yates, Jr., Marlene Sanders, Bill Kobin and Mike Wallace, the team put together the first live local news broadcast for New York City's channel 5.[4] The sponsor was Bond Clothes, and Wallace would read commercials for Bond Clothes inserted directly between news items.[5] Socolow soon left WABD when he was hired by CBS News.

Career at CBS News

Socolow joined CBS News to work on the morning news in 1956. Shortly thereafter he began working with Walter Cronkite on a midday news program and later Eyewitness to History, a series of news specials that evolved into a weekly prime-time program. He sat by Cronkite's side on election night 1960, silently passing notes on camara throughout the entire twelve hour close vote marathon. He then moved to the "CBS Evening News" when Douglas Edwards anchored and the broadcast was still 15-minutes. Socolow spent the academic year of 1961-1962 at Columbia University on a CBS Foundation News Fellowship, rejoining the "CBS Evening News" shortly after Cronkite replaced Edwards.[6] Throughout much of the 1960s, Socolow, working under Don Hewitt, Ernie Leiser, and Les Midgley, played a key role in shaping Cronkite's daily newscast.[7]

In 1974 Socolow moved to Washington, where he oversaw CBS’s coverage of Nixon’s resignation and the trials of the Watergate conspirators. He returned to New York in 1978 as executive producer of the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite and briefly continued on the program after Dan Rather succeeded Cronkite in 1981. He was later London Bureau Chief and a Producer for 60 Minutes.[8]

Later television career

After leaving CBS in 1988, Socolow developed the Christian Science Monitor program World Monitor and produced programs for the Discovery Channel, including Cronkite Reports, and for PBS.

Personal life

Socolow was married for 17 years to Anne G. Krulewitch, daughter of major general Melvin Krulewitch,[9] and divorced in 1977. He had three children: Jonathan L. Socolow, H. Elisabeth Socolow, and Michael J. Socolow. He also had 4 grandchildren, and loved to use the saying, "the sky's the limit!" when it came to restaurants with his grandchildren.

References

  1. ↑ Weber, Bruce (4 February 2015). "Sandy Socolow, CBS Newsman During Heady Days, Dies at 86". The New York Times. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  2. ↑ Gates, Gary Paul (1978). Air Time: The Inside Story of CBS News. New York: Harper & Row. pp. 181–185. ISBN 0060114770.
  3. ↑ "Sanford Socolow Interview". Archive of American Television. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  4. ↑ Sanders, Marlene (1988). Waiting for Prime-Time: The Women of Television News. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. p. 18. ISBN 0252014359.
  5. ↑ Krogius, Henrik (April 11, 2012). "The Mike Wallace I Knew". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Eight Newsmen Appointed CBS Foundation News Fellows for 1961-1962" (PDF). Broadcasting Magazine. April 17, 1961. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Sandy Socolow, Walter Cronkite's "right hand," dies at 86". cbsnews.com. CBS News. February 2015.
  8. ↑ Bernstein, Adam (February 2, 2015). "Sandy Socolow, news producer for Walter Cronkite at CBS, dies at 86". The Washington Post. The Washington Post. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Anne Krulewitch Will Be Married To C.B.S. Writer; State Athletic Leader's Daughter Is Fiancee of Sanford Socolow". The New York Times. 1960-03-27. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
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