Cury, Ivan 1937–

PERSONAL: Born June 29, 1937, in New York, NY; son of Joel (an accountant) and Anne (a milliner) Cury; married June 25, 1962; wife's name Lynda (divorced June 28, 1987); married Barbara Harris (in public relations); children: James, Peter, Joanna Harris, Alex Gorodetzky. Ethnicity: "Some." Education: Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie-Mellon University), B.F.A., 1959; Boston University, M.F.A., 1960. Politics: "I vote." Religion: Jewish. Hobbies and other interests: Music, photography.

ADDRESSES: Home—Encino, CA. Office—Communication Studies Program, California State University, 5151 State University Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90032. E-mail—[email protected]; [email protected].

CAREER: Hunter College of the City University of New York, New York, NY, instructor, 1962–63; WNDT-TV, New York, NY, began as makeup artist, became director and producer, 1963–70; CBS-TV, New York, NY, producer and director, 1970–72; MJA Advertising, New York, NY, vice president for creative affairs, 1972–77; University of California, Los Angeles, assistant professor, 1979–90; California State University, Los Angeles, associate professor, 1990–96, professor of communication studies, 1996–. Also taught at New School for Social Research. Worked as a child actor in television series; television production consultant to Men's Wear-house. Military service: Served in U.S. Army.

MEMBER: International Documentary Association, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (member of New York board of directors), Directors Guild of America (member of New York board of directors).

AWARDS, HONORS: Fulbright fellow; Emmy Awards, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, for directing television programs broadcast in the series Soul!, NYTV Theater, Newsfront, Camera 3, and The Young and the Restless; Ohio State Award, for directing a production of the Harkness Ballet.

WRITINGS:

Directing and Producing for Television: A Format Approach, Focal Press (Woburn, MA), 1998, 3rd edition, 2006.

TV Commercials: How to Make Them, or How Big Is the Boat?, Elsevier (Boston, MA), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: Ivan Cury once told CA: "I began working in radio, television, stage, and film at the age of ten. I appeared as Bobby Benson on The Bobby Benson Showand helped Portia face life as her son on Portia Faces Life, and so on. Despite that early introduction to production, and after a B.F.A. and M.F.A. in theater, I found (no big surprises here) that I had lots to learn. I went to New York City and got my first full-time job in television as a makeup man for National Educational Television. After a while I was offered a job as a stage manager, and I took it. I found that I had an enormous number of questions about various facets of the job. None of the answers could be found in my background as an actor, my work as a makeup man, or in any of my past classes. I also found that there was no place, or book, to consult to find out what I needed to know. Instead I was left to my own devices. This consisted mostly of asking questions, watching a lot of other people, and making up answers as I went along. Invariably, my solutions consisted of reinventing procedures and stumbling upon material that had been there all along. I wanted to write the book I wished I had been able to consult.

"While I continued directing and producing in television, I also found myself teaching at Hunter College and the New School in New York, and later at the University of California and California State University in Los Angeles. Working at those schools helped me find a way to articulate what I had learned in a way that was meaningful for the students."