William Paley

William Paley was born on September 27, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois, USA as William Samuel Paley. He was married to Barbara Cushing and Dorothy Jones Hart.

Two adopted children (Jeffrey and Hilary). Additional children William Paley Jr. (b. 1948) and Kate Paley (b. 1950).

Between November 1954 through March 1955, William "Bill" S. Paley, founder of Columbia Broadcasting System Radio and Television Network, negotiated to inaugurate a new CBS television series "The Ford Star Jubilee", a spectacular color television live special program to counter National Broadcasting Company Color Television Network's live "Producers' Showcase" series. NBC inaugurated the live televised-color-program-series on 18 October 1954, a dramatic color broadcast production of Noël Coward's stage-play "Tonight at 8:30" starring Ginger Rogers, directed by Otto Preminger, electronically transmitted from NBC Television's New York City studio. Both Networks, NBC (Monday night) and CBS (Saturday night), scheduled their 90 minute color specials once a month. During the early 1950's not all of NBC's television product was broadcast in color, NBC becoming a full color network in the late 1950s. Bill Paley began scheduling program content for his new Ford Motor sponsored series "The "Ford Star Jubilee", signing Judy Garland, Noël Coward and Bing Crosby. In the 1930's Bill Paley's Columbia Radio Broadcasting System Network had major success with Paley signing a contract with Bing Crosby to perform regularly on his CBS radio broadcasting programs. James Glaser, Noël Coward's New York City agent had proposed Noël's talents to the three major automobile manufacturers, General Motors, Chrysler and to the Ford Motor Company. To William "Bill" Paley and his CBS Network television programing division, making an offer to Noël Coward was a coup: to star in three of "The Ford Star Jubilee" ninety minute CBS color Spectacular Specials. Noël Coward's managers Lance Hamilton and Charles Russel negotiated with Bill Paley and CBS-TV - New York, to pay Noël's TV production company $450,000.00 to produce the three specials. Noël's American television appearance was scheduled after Noël's Las Vegas Desert Inn (3 June-4 July, 1955) cabaret concert appearance. Noël's first CBS commitment would coincide with the CBS inaugural new "Ford Star Jubilee" special live color television series. "The Ford Star Jubilee" premiere special featured (#1.#1) "The Judy Garland Show" broadcast live in color Saturday night September 24, 1955 from CBS' Hollywood Television City - Studio 43, in California. The second color special to air live with a studio audience (#1.#2) "Together with Music" starring Noël Coward and Mary Martin was a color broadcast the next month on Saturday night October 22, 1955, from CBS' New York City - Studio 72, Broadway and 81st Street. Noël Coward had also been approached by Chrysler ($600,000) and General Motors which had both offered him more money to perform on television. Noël, hesitant, decided on the lesser fee since he was comfortable with Paley's CBS firmer deal . Paley insisted that Noël's first television appearance be based upon his Las Vegas Desert Inn Hotel and Casino concert act material. Noël agreed proposing his close friend Mary Martin to appear in the 90 minute musical special with him. Mary delighted with the proposition, agreeing to share the CBS stage. The 41-year-old Martin was fresh from her Broadway and NBC-TV "Producers' Showcase" triumph in the live Broadway musical "Peter Pan" tele-cast. After Las Vegas, Noël returned to Jamaica on Friday September 9th, 1955. Peter Matz arriving later on Sunday September 11th, followed by Mary Martin and her husband/manager Richard Halliday on Tuesday September 13th, with Noël - to develop, write, compose, arrange and orchestrate the television show material. Upon first hearing the two new songs "Together with Music" and "Ninety minutes is a long, long time", Mary objected to the opening "Together with Music" song and lyrics. Noël, during the night, rewrote the music and lyrics for "Together with Music". Noël scripted the entire 90 minute musical-concert-play; Noël staging, directing, rehearsing, memorizing the script with Mary; daily, pianist-arranger-orchestrator Peter Matz rehearsed Noël and Mary for their television special. The last Saturday September 24th night in Jamaica, giving a cocktail party, Noël and Mary performed the entire show to test an audience reaction to their material. After the cocktail party guests departed, Noël remarked "Mary was magical. She performed like she was giving a command performance". Mary and Richard returned to the mainland the next day, Sunday September 25th. After Noël's arrival In New York on October 5th, in studio rehearsals, Noël blocked every technical aspect of the camera positions related to Noël's staging and blocking of the TV concert act. The camera dress rehearsals in front of a live studio invited audience were performed first on Thursday night 20 October 1955, repeated Friday night 21 October, each recorded on B&W kine-scope. The kine-scope processed during the night, viewed the following Friday - 21 October, and early Saturday - 22 October morning by Noël, Mary, Bill Paley and the entire CBS stage camera-technical crew. Noël gave the camera crew his notes. The studio booth camera-director Jerry Shaw accepted Noël's pick-up shot notes. Noël insisting on single camera masters primarily moving into a close-up screen frame. After resting in their hotel rooms that Saturday afternoon show-day, Mary and Noël returned to the CBS studio stage, performing their concert act in front of a completely new invited live CBS studio audience. Afterwards, one of the first telephone calls came from Marlene Dietrich, in Las Vegas, ecstatic and praising the performance. "Together with Music" proved the public would stay tuned-in to a ninety-minute television program with only two entertainers holding their own in a networks time slot schedule. This "The Ford Star Jubilee - Together with Music" color television program broadcast from New York - was the "first color show" transmitted from the New York CBS studio-facility by the CBS television network. This telecast copied during the network-electronic-transmission in black-and-white-kine-scope is the only example of Noël Coward and Mary Martin performing his famous cabaret concert material on film, his rapid-fire recitatives of his own comic songs and medleys.

Upon completion (January, 1956) of Noël Coward's second CBS TV "Ford Star Jubilee" directing and starring appearance in "Blithe Spirit", Noël narrowed down prospective plays considered for his third CBS special. In Jamaica, Noël sprang at his play "Present Laughter" cutting the script down for TV, planning for camera shots, camera angles and close-ups, from the very beginning. Bill Paley was anxious for Noël not to do "Present Laughter", instead proposing Coward's 1940's London success "This Happy Breed". The play (This Happy Breed) had been made into a British feature Technicolor film in 1944, directed by David Lean. In early March, Ford Motor Company announced in the press without warning that Noel's third television appearance was canceled because the ratings on "Together with Music" and "Blithe Spirit" had not been high enough. Noel flew to New York on Tuesday (13 March) arriving at 9:45 p.m. in snow. Meeting Bill Paley Wednesday morning at eleven o'clock, Noël's only policy was stately reticence and outraged dignity. Bill Paley received Noël, and his agents "Russel and Hamilton" with twitching apprehension! After their meeting, a - CBS TV press release announcing Noël Coward's next CBS TV appearance had been postponed until October 1956, when Noël would launch the new "CBS Playhouse 90" series with Noël starring in his play "This Happy Breed". Ford Motor and J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency had made their announcement to the press without consulting CBS obviously to humiliate Noël as publicly as possibly. Unfortunately, they had not taken into account the fact that Noël Coward's previous CBS TV appearances had been triumphant successes, ratings or no ratings. The reason for Ford's rage was the result of Noël ridiculing them in the Hollywood Press interviews for trying to censor some of his risqué lyrics in "Together with Music" and also certain specific risqué dialogue lines in "Blithe Spirit; TV audiences in the Mid-West were considered eminently shock-able and likely to alleviate their outrage by refusing to buy Ford cars. Bill Paley declared Ford's press release about ratings for Noël Coward's television special ratings being inadequate was false and untrue. By the end of March, all was changed around again from Ford's high eminence - Noël was now to do "This Happy Breed" on Saturday, 5 May, per the original "Ford Star Jubilee" network contract. Added to their discomfiture, Ford Motor realized that they had nothing prepared for the 5 May broadcast schedule and that they were up shit creek without a paddle. Noël's first instinct was to refuse haughtily. Bill Paley urged Noël with pulsating sincerity to do the damned thing on 5 May.

In 1964, he purchased the New York Yankees from Del Webb and Daniel Topping, and sold it to in 1973 to a group of investors led by George M. Steinbrenner III.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 679-681. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.

William S. Paley was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1988.

Is portrayed by Frank Langella in Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) and by Lee Ritchey in Infamous (2006).