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James Aubrey

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.   James Thomas Aubrey, Jr. (December 14, 1918 – September 3, 1994) was a leading American television and film executive. President of the CBS television network during the early 1960s, he put some of television's most enduring series on the air, including Gilligan's Island and The Beverly Hillbillies. Under Aubrey, CBS dominated American television the way General Motors and General Electric dominated their industries. The New York Times Magazine in 1964 called Aubrey "a master of programming whose divinations led to successes that are breathtaking." Aubrey, replaced CBS Television President Louis Cowan, who was slowly dismissed after the quiz show scandals. Despite his successes in television, Aubrey's abrasive personality and oversized ego – "Picture Machiavelli and Karl Rove at a University of Colorado football recruiting party" wrote Variety in 2004 – led to his firing from CBS amid charges of improprieties. "The circumstances rivaled the best of CBS adventure or mystery shows," declared The New York Times in its front-page story on his firing, which came on "the sunniest Sunday in February" 1965. He earned the nickname “Smiling Cobra” for his brutal decision-making ways. Aubrey governed CBS with firm grip and it did not go unnoticed. He had great success selecting network programs in the beginning, but was suddenly dismissed in February of 1965. Aubrey offered no explanation following his dismissal, nor did CBS President Frank Stanton or Board Chairman William Paley. After four years as an independent producer, Aubrey was hired by financier Kirk Kerkorian to preside over Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's near-total shutdown in the 1970s, during which he slashed the budget and alienated producers and directors but brought profits to a company that had suffered huge losses. Aubrey resigned from MGM after four years, declaring his job was done, and then vanished into almost total obscurity for the last two decades of his life. Description above from the Wikipedia article James Aubrey, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.


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Born:
Aug 28, 1947 In Klagenfurt, Austria
Movie/TV Credits:
29
First Appeared:
In the movie Lord of the Flies 1963-08-13
Latest Project:
Movie Spy Game 2001-11-18
Known For
Poster of Heartbeat
Poster of A Demon in My View
Poster of Terror
Poster of Another Bouquet
Filmography
Movie Spy Game Mitch Alford 2001-11-18
Series Silent Witness Unknown 1996-02-21
Series Heartbeat Unknown 1992-04-10
Movie A Fatal Inversion Dr Swiftson 1992-05-10
Movie Selling Hitler Congo Randy 1991-06-11
Movie Buddy's Song Adrian 1991-03-01
Movie A Demon in My View Brian Kotowsky 1991-09-23
Movie The Rift Contek 1 1990-03-09
Series Mission: Eureka Swann 1989-10-09
Movie James Joyce's 'Ulysses' Frank Budgen 1988-01-10
Series Rockliffe's Folly Det Insp Derek Hoskins 1988-11-02
Movie Thin Air Zac Diamond 1988-04-08
Series Inspector Morse Unknown 1987-01-06
Movie The American Way Claude 1987-11-13
Series Lovejoy Unknown 1986-01-10
Movie Forever Young James 1983-01-07
Series The Cleopatras Grypus 1983-01-19
Movie The Hunger Ron 1983-04-29
Movie The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle Record Executive 1980-09-11
Movie Home Before Midnight Mike Beresford 1979-10-18
Series Tales of the Unexpected Unknown 1979-03-24
Movie Danton's Death Lacroix 1978-04-23
Movie Terror Philip 1978-05-01
Series Another Bouquet 1977-01-05
Series Bouquet of Barbed Wire Gavin Sorenson 1976-01-06
Movie The Sex Thief 1st Reporter 1973-01-01
Series Van der Valk Unknown 1972-09-13
Series BBC Play of the Month Unknown 1965-10-19
Movie Lord of the Flies Ralph 1963-08-13