Frank Shakespeare, who was a station manager and CBS executive before holding an influential position in the Richard Nixon administration and working in global politics, died December 14 at age 97. No cause of death has been reported.
Shakespeare was born in New York in 1925 and attended Holy Cross College. He served in the Navy and later went into radio ad sales.
Shakespeare shifted to local television, and was general manager of WXIX Milwaukee, then a CBS affiliate, in 1957, and moved on to be WCBS New York general manager. He presented what was considered the first television editorial on local affairs, noted The New York Times, a critique of off-track betting. General manager editorials are more commonplace now.
In 1965, Shakespeare was named executive VP at CBS, working under president James T. Aubrey. His influence decreased after Aubrey was let go, and Shakespeare ended up head of cable, syndication and foreign investment at CBS.
Shakespeare was a volunteer for Richard Nixon, and joined Nixon’s 1968 presidential campaign while on leave at CBS. He focused on Nixon’s television appearances, seeking to undo Nixon’s forgettable TV appearances in 1960 as vice president.
Shakespeare was named director of the United States Information Agency, which focused on broadcasting programming to enhance America’s image overseas, including coverage of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
Shakespeare left the Nixon administration in 1973 and got back into broadcasting. He became executive VP of Westinghouse Electric Corp., overseeing broadcasting. He later was president of RKO General, which owned radio and TV stations.
In 1981, President Ronald Reagan named Shakespeare chairman of the board for International Broadcasting, overseeing Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. He was ambassador to Portugal from 1985 to 1986 and to the Vatican from 1987 to 1989. ■
