George Thomas Shupert (Sr.) Obituary

George T. Shupert, Television Pioneer
March 18, 1986

Services will be Wednesday for George T. Shupert, a nationally known television pioneer who died Sunday in Fort Lauderdale.

Mr. Shupert, who moved to Fort Lauderdale 25 years ago, was long active in the communications field and received national recognition as a television pioneer. He was the former president and owner of the Sunrise Broadcasting Company and a former director of American Video.

A native of Michigan, Mr. Shupert left a successful investment securities business there to stake out a communications career in New York, where he became sales director for the commercial film division of Paramount Pictures Corporation. He later became vice president of Paramount Television Productions.

In the early 1950s, he became vice president of the ABC Film Syndicate, eventually becoming president.

From there, he went to Twentieth Century Fox as vice president of television sales. For several years, he headed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer`s television operations department.

Mr. Shupert was a founding member and president of the American Television Society and was second vice president and honorary lifetime member of the Radio and Television Executive Society.

In Broward County, he held several positions with the United Way Fund. He also was past president of the Pompano Beach Chamber of Commerce, a past vice chairman of the Broward Council of One Hundred, and was an active member of the Pompano Beach Rotary Club.

Mr. Shupert is survived by a son, George T. Shupert Jr., of Deerfield Beach; two daughters, Joanne Johnsen, of Atlanta, and Sally Shepard, of Tiburon, Calif.; seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Services will be at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Kraeer Fort Lauderdale Funeral Home, 4061 N. Federal Highway.