Max Schindler (born Maxim Arthur Schindler) was an important cameraman/producer in the start of the television. Schindler was born on March 30th, 1930 in Corona, California, but moved to Jackson Heights in New York right after he was born. Schindler's parents were Max Ernst Schindler and Margaret Elizabeth Becker. Interestingly enough, his grandfather's name was Max Schindler too--and Schindler's son is named Max, too. Although dreamed of a career in the military in his childhood, Schindler failed an exam in a Christian Brother's school and instead went to St. John's College where he studied pharmacy. Luckily, he quit the school, and after serving three years in the military from 1948-1951, Schindler went to television.
At first, Schindler worked in Wisconsin's local TV station WNME. He met his wife Elene while typecasting at the TV station and married her in late 1956. Oddly enough, Max was playing a gangster and had to "Kiss her and throw her on the couch" three times, until they got the scene right--which made her Greek parents quite unhappy. He was one of the many television people who got to know John Kennedy while he was still a Senator; he also knew the late Bobby Kennedy quite well - they were editing film together for a few months during JFK's presidential campaign.
Shortly after John Kennedy became president, Schindler was hired by
NBC, and was the associate producer of David Brinkley's Journal, together with
Bob Doyle starting from 1961. He recalls the first episode of the show, when they showed trashed landscapes, together with peaceful music and ironically called the three minute scene "America, the beautiful". When Doyle left for National Geographic, Schindler became a director, first at WRC, a local TV station still, but then he became the director of
NBC News.
Max has covered historical events like the Cuban missile crisis in 1961. He recalls following government officials around, but had no breakthroughs. He also directed the
news coverage of the JFK assassination in 1963; he took the photos of JFK's coffin when it was placed onto Air Force One. Schindler covered a lot of other important events. For example, he vividly remembers the Martin Luther King's famous "I Have A Dream" speech, Max humorously remembers that during the speech, he often thought, "Yes, Martin, we know you have a dream", as Luther King repeated the phrase "I Have A Dream" for numerous times.
Schindler later started a two decade long association with Meet The Press in 1965. As a director, he was very highly regarded at the time, and, in the 70s, he was the coverage director when other important events, such as the Watergate, the Iran hostage crisis and the Pope's visits to the United States occurred. In 1975, while still directing Meet The Press, Schindler became the Washington director for the show "Today". He was the shows' director for a whopping 28 years. Schindler's work in television has influenced many to-be directors through his six decade work as a director, producer, and cameraman.
