Ira Skutch ’41


Ira Skutch ’41 died on March 17 after a courageous fight against lymphoma. Ira, who grew up in New York City, began his television career immediately after World War II when television had just begun. He produced or directed more than 10,000 game show episodes. He started as a page at NBC in New York in 1942 and went on to become a stage manager for a number of early shows such as NBC Television Theater, You Are an Artist and Kraft Television Theatre. He was a producer/writer/director for Philco Television Playhouse. Later he worked as producer/director and vice president at Goodson-Todman Productions from 1957 to 1983, moving to Los Angeles and helping create many of the most popular game shows of that time. Ira retired in 1995, after which he concentrated on writing or editing 10 published books of memoirs and one novel. His books include The Days of Live (a history of live television) and Five Directors (about five historic radio personalities), both published by Scarecrow Press in 1998. He leaves children Lindsay and Rick, brother Robert ’46, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.