Hollywood is mourning the loss of television and film trailblazer Stanley G. Robertson. Robertson, who labored for more minority inclusion in Hollywood, died Nov. 16, 2011, in his Bel Air, Calif., home. Robertson was the first black vice president of both a major TV network and a motion-picture company.
Robertson grew up in a working-class family in Los Angeles. After receiving a degree from Los Angeles City College in 1949, for two years Robertson worked as a general assignment reporter for the Los Angeles Sentinel (the largest circulated black paper in the West). He rose to become the paper's managing editor and resigned to become an associate editor of Ebony magazine. "I had attained a status very few black writers had, at a time when there were very few places blacks could go. But it turned into a dead end."
The decision he made to leave his post at Ebony and go back to school in 1954 to study telecommunications at the University of Southern California was perhaps fueled by a determination forged in childhood, when he battled blindness. Initially sent to a school for the blind, Robertson insisted on attending a traditional high school, where he flourished.
Having worked as a post office janitor and dishwasher in a drugstore and also having done menial work in a hospital lab, Robertson gained the insight and motivation to represent the voiceless in his community and give a legitimate voice to their stories and concerns. His passion, both humanistic and political, came at a time when minorities were largely unrepresented behind the scenes and on the screen.
Top brass at NBC recognized Robertson's talents, and he was promoted into the executive ranks, first as a manager of film program operations in 1965, then as a director of motion pictures for television and eventually vice president of motion pictures for television in 1971. Herb Schlosser, vice president of programs at the time, stated, "He earned the title by doing the best job." Robertson later ascended to the position of vice president of film programs, in which he was responsible for all programming produced on the network's prime-time schedule.
Later, in an attempt to further mainstream minority images, Robertson launched his own production company, Jilcris Inc., sealing a deal with Universal Studios as a contract writer, producer and executive. It was at Universal where Robertson continued to create positive images of African Americans (during an era when TV comedies were the only representation of blacks on TV). "The unspoken attitude is still that blacks are great for singing and dancing but not for giving orders,” Robertson remarked, having worked his way up to giving orders that were both respected and implemented.
In 1979 Robertson developed and produced Harris and Company, the first weekly dramatic TV series to depict a black family, starring Bernie Casey as a father of five. The series was short-lived, but by then Robertson understood the value of being the forerunner and chipping away at perceptions. Later, his involvement with "America's Favorite Dad," Bill Cosby, would yield a fruitful collaboration: Robertson would come to run Cosby's production company at Universal. He subsequently went to Paramount Studios, where he was heavily involved in production of the film Men of Honor, as well as other projects.
At Columbia Pictures, Robertson was instrumental in the creation of the first Creative Access Program at a major studio, in which the studio focused on developing minority writers and directors. He also started a New Producers initiative as well as a management-training program, which developed new minority management personnel.
He is survived by his wife Ruby of 58 years; his daughter, Jill Francesca; and a son, Christopher John.
A Celebration of Life memorial service for Robertson will be held on Monday, Dec. 19, 2011, at 11:00 a.m. at the Courtyard by Marriott in Culver City, Calif. He was 85.
Read more at EURweb.