Mr. Chayefsky “was very charming and he was very funny about some of the people he saw,” Mr. Wald told Dave Itzkoff for his book. “Crazy ...
Mr. Chayefsky “was very charming and he was very funny about some of the people he saw,” Mr. Wald told Dave Itzkoff for his book. “Crazy as hell: The creation of ‘Network’ and the fateful sight of the most angry man in cinema” (2014). “Which led me to believe he wasn’t going to treat them kindly.”
Mr. Wald resigned from NBC News in 1977 after disputes with senior network management over issues such as signing exclusive and expensive contracts with former President Gerald R. Ford; his wife, Betty; and Henry A. Kissinger, the former Secretary of State, to appear on NBC News specials.
Although he approved the signings at the time, he later felt that the fees paid resulted in cuts to his budget for special features and documentaries, The New York Times reported at the time.
After leaving NBC, Mr. Wald consulted with PBS on the future of public television newsgathering and served for three months as a special assistant to Otis Chandlereditor of the Los Angeles Times.
When Mr. Arledge recruited him to join ABC News in 1978, Mr. Wald had to adjust to the culture there, especially at the Washington bureau, which did not welcome him happily.
“If you think we need a guy from NBC to help us, you’re wrong,” Frank Reynoldsone of three anchors on ABC’s “World News Tonight,” said, according to Mr. Arledge’s memoir.
Mr. Wald adapted and stayed for 21 years.
In addition to his sons Matthew, a former New York Times reporter, and Jonathan, a former “Today” and “NBC Nightly News” executive producer, Mr. Wald, who lived in Larchmont, NY, is survived by one daughter, Elizabeth. Wald; seven grandchildren; and a great-grandson. His wife, Edith (Leslie) Wald, died in 2021.
COMMENTS