Midgley, Leslie

Broadcast journalist.

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Leslie Les Midgley (1915-2002) was the son of J. George Midgley (1887-1979) and grandson of the seventh Mormon Church president Heber J. Grant. He began his journalism career in 1935, working as a police reporter for the Deseret News . In 1940, Midgley settled in New York City as a reporter for the New York Herald-Tribune, leaving in 1950. Following several years as an editor for Look magazine and Collier’s Weekly, he shifted into television as a producer for CBS News. In 1954, Midgley wrote a morning program, entitled F.Y.I., with Andy Rooney and then produced a half-hour news show with Eric Sevareid.

Next, Midgley produced specials on international events, before becoming executive producer of CBS’s Eyewitness to History in 1959. The show was cancelled four years later, and he became produced for The Evening News with Walter Cronkite. When President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, Midgley controlled the continuous on-air reportage following the assassination through Kennedy’s burial. In 1972, Midgley left The Evening News to work on documentary specials and became head of CBS’s Special Reports Unit. After his retirement from CBS in 1980, Midgley joined NBS News as vice president for special programs, leaving a few years later in order to teach.

During his years in the television news industry, Midgley continued to write editorials and research articles for newspapers, magazines, and journals. In 1989, he published an autobiography, How Many Words Do You Want?: An Insider’s Story of Print and Television Journalism . Midgley married Jean Burke (d. 1965), with whom he had three children: Leslie Midgley, Jr., Andrea Connors, and Peter Midgley. In 1967, he married actress and consumer advocate Betty Furness (1916-1994).

Source:

Oliver, Myrna. Leslie Midgley, 87; Developed TV Specials on Breaking News. Los Angeles Times, http://articles.latimes.com/2002/jun/29/local/me-midgley29 (accessed September 13, 2010).