Louis G. Cowan

Louis G. Cowan (December 12, 1909 – November 18, 1976 and was director of the Voice of America from 1943–1945.

Early life Cowan was born Louis Cohen in 1909 in Chicago but changed his name at age 21. While at the university he met his wife Pauline "Polly" Spiegel, granddaughter of Joseph Spiegel, founder of the Spiegel catalog.

Career Cowan's breakthrough as a producer came in 1940 with Quiz Kids. He set up its first production company Louis G. Cowan Company, who was based in Chicago, in its first stint at game shows after being a commercial agency. During World War II he headed the New York office of the United States Office of War Information. After that he returned to commercial radio, producing first Murder at Midnight and then Fighting Senator. When he moved in to CBS during the success of The $64,000 Question, his eponymous production company, Louis G. Cowan, Inc., was renamed to Entertainment Productions, Inc. under the presidency of Harry Fleischman, and developed successful quiz shows like The $64,000 Question and The Big Surprise. Entertainment Productions went defunct in 1959 shortly after he left CBS.

He produced more than 50 programs during his three years with CBS, including Captain Kangaroo, and won two Peabody Awards. After he left CBS, he founded Chilmark Press, was director of the Brandeis University Communications Center, special lecturer at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and founded the William E. Wiener Oral History Library for the American Jewish Committee.