Jack Reilly

Jack Reilly Lowell native, former CNBC executive; 84 NEW YORK CITY Jack Reilly died May 27th 2009 at 84 years old in New York City. He lived an amazing life by any measure. He is best known in the television industry, where he began his career in 1953 at KMTV in Omaha. He acted, did lighting, swept floors and directed live TV. In 1962, he joined Westinghouse Broadcasting where he worked as a program director and station manager at television stations in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia. In Philadelphia, Reilly was named President of the Westinghouse television production division, Group W Productions. After a successful career as a television executive and in his late forties, Reilly reinvented himself as a television producer. He produced the Mike Douglas and David Frost Shows, and in the late 70's he was hired as the Senior Producer of ABC's Good Morning America. In 1982, Reilly was hired as the Executive Producer of Entertainment Tonight. During the four years under Reilly's supervision, the show became an unprecedented ratings success story for Paramount Television and led the way for a new genre of programming based on entertainment news. In 1986, Reilly returned to ABC as the Executive Producer of Good Morning America. Shortly after his return, Reilly hired Charlie Gibson to join Joan Lunden as the show's co-hosts. GMA rose to the number one in the hotly-contested network morning show ratings race, unseating the Today Show from top spot for the first time in television history. GMA continued as the top-rated network morning show until he left after nearly a decade. Reilly won a National Daytime Emmy Award as the Executive Producer of Good Morning America. In 1996, Reilly teamed up with Roger Ailes to launch the cable network "America's Talking". The "AT" cable network franchise ultimately evolved into MSNBC. In 1998, Reilly became Vice President and Managing Editor of Business News for CNBC, where he created shows still airing today, including "Squawk Box" and "Power Lunch". While at CNBC, Reilly pioneered the practice of producing live financial news reports from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. After six years of successfully supervising Business News production at CNBC, he spent much of his remaining years as a consultant. Before his life in TV, Jack was Michael Reilly the actor. He played (Ensign Insigna) in Mr. Roberts on Broadway and was one of the few Americans that worked with the Old Vic Theater Company on Broadway with Laurence Olivier, and Maurice Evens. He was known to quote Shakespeare to suite any occasion. He was born John Michael in Lowell, MAto Elizabeth Cull Reilly And Joseph Reilly. He had polio as a child and had to forgo an appointment to WestPoint. This led him to Emerson College where he studied acting. He was a wonderful story teller and had a wealth of experience to draw from. He was passionate about reading the New York Times everyday. He was humble, kind and compassionate with a wonderful sense of humor and a strong moral compass. He was preceded in deathby his brother, best friend and author, Robert T. Reilly, Joseph, and his sisters, Mary Louise Lach, and Barbara O'Riordan. He is survived by his children, Deborah Reilly, and caring son-in-law, Thomas Martin, and 2 grand-daughters, Amelia & Hannah, Christopher Reilly, and his loving daughter-in-law, Robin and grandsons, Connor, Brett and Nicholas;Linda Reilly-Boehm and new son-in-law, Tony Boehm; and youngest daughter, Stephanie Reilly, as well as their mother, Timmie Reilly. He was a mentor, great boss, and friend to many co-workers. His last year were devoted to spending time with his children and grandchildren. For more on his life see www.jackreilly.org