Reuven was among the first select newscasters who saw the rise of modern television. He was the pioneering force behind numerous innovations in television. He was an
NBC executive for a whopping 38 years and is now considered to be one of the key television people of the 20th century, as he utilized the then-new television to the max by emphasizing use of visuals and images with sounds and professional broadcasting. Reuven was highly regarded by his coworkers as well as subordinates; he was also considered to be quite eccentric and, besides his work with
NBC, is known for reinventing the documentary genre.
Early life.
Reuven (born as Israel Reuven Frank) was born in December 7th, 1920 and died four years ago on February 4th, 2006. Little is known about his early life. He, however, stated that his interest in journalism started when he finished high school in 1937, when the
news suddenly became a big thing, as they covered the rise of Hitler. He, like many others at the time, decided to study journalism, and, after graduating the City College of New York and the University of Columbia, Frank was thrown in the newspaper business. He was working with the Newark Evening
News in New Jersey, when he married Bernice Kaplow, with whom he had two children, in 1946.
Broadcasting.
Reuven was introduced to TV broadcasting circa 1950 by Gerry Greene, an old classmate of his. The first ten years of his work were quite silent, until he started producing documentary films. Frank's documentaries were borderline disturbing and dramatic, but they were fun to watch and informative, as well as focused on current issues and happenings. Reuven's most famous documentaries include 1962 The Tunnel, a documentary about the escape of 59 East Berliners. Up to now, The Tunnel has remained the only documentary film to receive the program of the year award. Other notable works of Reuven Frank include being the executive producer of the famous Huntley-Brinkley Report, as well as Weekend on
NBC news.
Frank's
NBC career was quite extraordinary. When he left
NBC in 1988, he had been in virtually any spot available in the company, including director for two terms, executive producer, and many others. Frank was the mentor of Tom Brokaw and introduced him as the new anchor for
NBC Nightly News in 1982. He was also the mentor of other prominent
NBC journalists like John Chancellor and Andrea Mitchell, who were highly regarded in
NBC even after Frank's departure.
In bold terms, Reuven was quite the stereotype of a journalist, in the not-so-good meaning of it. He was often accused of omitting story parts to preserve the picture, he even said, "If it's not interesting, it can't be important because you can't communicate [it]." However, he is credited mostly for the technicalities of his job, because Reuven was among the first who turned broadcasting into an art of sorts. In his works, the visual motion picture intertwined with sound effects, creating a truly dramatic effect that the modern broadcasters still see as standard.
