A Question of Talent:

A Look at Some of the Archive's Interviewers BY BETH ERAS W hen Dan Pasternack, VP of Granada Enter-tainment, was in high school, he produced a filmed salute to "The Jack Benny Show" Ñ complete with cast and crew interviews. Now, years later, Pasternack is chronicling television history again Ñ as an interviewer for the Archive of American Television. His first interview? Television legend, Milton Berle. Since then, Pasternack has conducted four Archive interviews. And he's just one of the many talented interviewers involved in the project. FIRST HAND "Without qualified interviewers, the Archive couldn't achieve its mission of preserving the history of television, via firsthand accounts of those involved in its development," Archive executive producer Michael Rosen says. The Archive solicits qualified professionals to conduct interviews; interviewers from academia such as Dr. Don Carleton, Director of The Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin; to historians such as Leonard Maltin and Jeff Kisseloff; to authors like Lee Goldberg and Jon Burlingame; to respected journalists including Diane Werts of Newsday, Bill Tynan of Time, and Matt Roush of TV Guide. "The more knowledgeable the interviewers, the better the interview," says Dr. Ralph Engleman, Chairman of the Journalism Department at Long Island University. "They can ask the right follow-up questions." (He interviewed James Day in April.) For instance, when writer Sam Denoff interviewed producer Sheldon Leonard, he elicited candid narratives about their days together on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and other programs. "He was a great inspiration to the industry," Denoff says of the late producer. Denoff, like all Archive interviewers, is an unpaid volunteer. They donate time and energy to chronicle the subject's life and career within the interview. GUIDING LIGHTS One of the project's earliest volunteers was television historian Jeff Kisseloff. Among the many subjects he suggested was Ray Forrest, one of television's first announcers; Joseph Wershba, CBS News' top reporter; and Romilly Ruther-ford, an engineer who work-ed with electronic television inventor Philo Farnsworth. "Jeff's been a guiding light in our quest to create an objective and serious archive," Rosen says. "He suggested many interviewees that might have fallen through the cracks." Kisseloff has conducted eight Archive interviews -- including one with Philo Farnsworth's widow, Elma, an event he refers to as "the highlight of my life." STILL SURPRISED "It is an honor to conduct interviews," says veteran journalist Morrie Gelman. "I'm privileged to hear their memoirs." And, after conducting 10 Archive interviews, Gelman's still surprised by what he hears. "Despite the long careers, their wealth, their position," he says, "they are still ambitious. They're all still working on something." A COMMON IMPERATIVE "The Archive will ensure that the history of television will be available," says interviewer Henry Colman, an independent television producer. These interviewers are just part of a growing network of dedicated people who realize the value of creating a comprehensive oral history collection. And, they all share one imperative: to chronicle television's beginnings before it's too late. From top to bottom: Bob Finkel and Morrie Gelman; Jeff Kisseloff and Joseph Wershba.