Ethel Winant

Ethel Winant ( Wald; August 5, 1922 – November 29, 2003) was the first woman executive in television when she became the vice-president of CBS in 1973. Winant was also a casting director for various shows including The Twilight Zone and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. She was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999.

Early life and education Ethel Wald was born on August 5, 1922, in Worcester, Massachusetts.

She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor's degree and Whittier College with a Master's degree in Theatre.

Career While in school, Winant worked behind the scenes in the Pasadena Playhouse. After graduation, she became a theatre producer in Los Angeles while working for the Lockheed Corporation as a riveter and later riveter instructor making P-38s during the Second World War. At the end of the 1940s, Winant became an assistant to the producer for Broadway plays including A Streetcar Named Desire and Death of a Salesman.

She began working in television during the 1950s as a casting director for Studio One and Playhouse 90. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Winant cast various CBS shows including The Twilight Zone, Hawaii Five-O, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. During the 1980s and 1990s, she was the producer of multiple programs including World War II: When Lions Roared and George Wallace.

Death Ethel Winant died in Los Angeles on November 29, 2003, aged 81.

In 1999, Ethel Winant was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.

Personal life Winant was married to actor H. M. Wynant from 1951 until their divorce in 1971. They had three children.