Al Wasserman

Albert Wasserman

Wasserman died of lung cancer at Cabrini Hospital in Manhattan on March 31, 2005. He was 84. "Brainwashing", an episode of The Twentieth Century that Wasserman produced, directed, and wrote in 1958, won a bronze medallion from The Christophers.

He then moved to NBC, where he became the founding producer of the Emmy-winning documentary series White Paper (1960–1980). Wasserman was personally nominated for two Emmy Awards for his writing on the show, in 1961 (with John Barron) and in 1962 (with Arthur Zegart); a White Paper film about war in Angola also earned him the Hillman Prize in 1961.

Wasserman left NBC to form his own independent production company, Wasserman Productions, in 1967, though the company was later dissolved in the mid-1970s. In 1973, he directed the film The Making of the President 1972, based on the book by Theodore H. White. However, the film’s release was delayed until 1975 due to the uncovering of the Watergate Scandal. He later worked as a producer at 60 Minutes (1968-) from 1976 until his retirement in 1986.

Photography Having led a successful career in film production, Wasserman used his retirement to explore his passion for still photography. His work has been exhibited in New York City and Provincetown, Massachusetts.