PASADENA, Calif. (UMNS)—With the pull of a rope and an introduction from actress Carol Burnett, studios 36 and 46 at CBS Television City were renamed the Charles Cappleman Studios.
Charles “Capp” Cappleman, 78, an active United Methodist layman at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Tarzana, Calif., and executive vice president of West Coast operations and engineering, retired from CBS Television City after 50 years. He is credited with being the creative vision behind the new building at CBS Television City, completed in 1992, that houses studios 36 and 46, now the Charles Cappleman Studios.
“My 50 years at Television City have been great fun and provided tremendous satisfaction in being a member of such a great organization,” said Cappleman during the surprise retirement/birthday celebration attended by hundreds at CBS Television City.
“I have no retirement plans, other than to continue with most of the volunteer jobs I have,” Cappleman said. “The Lord has always been good to me, and I am waiting to see what He has in mind for me next.”
Cappleman, who is chairman of the United Methodist California-Pacific Conference Commission on Communications, began work at CBS Television City on Jan. 29, 1954, as a stage manager. He had just been discharged from the Air Force’s 1354th Video Production Squadron that had been initially stationed at Lockheed Air Terminal in Burbank, Calif. The squadron toured the United States showing the Air Force how to use television, which at that time was still a new entity.
“In the church we talk of gifts and graces,” said Bishop Mary Ann Swenson, Los Angeles. “Charles Cappleman is such a gifted man and his gifts have been used in the television industry for over 50 years and he has shared his giftedness with the church throughout his life.
“He is a man of grace and his grace is so evident in his being that he radiates the grace of God,” Swenson added. “He shares God’s love in work and life.”
As executive vice president of West Coast operations at CBS Television City, Cappleman was responsible for ensuring that operations remained current with advances in technology. He also provided oversight for production operations and personnel of CBS Television City, the network’s live and videotape production facility in Los Angeles, and CBS Studio Center, the network’s motion picture studio in Studio City, Calif.
In June, Cappleman was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame along with Dan Rather (“CBS Evening News”), Bob Barker (“The Price is Right”), and Katie Couric (NBC’s “Today”). Art Carney and Brandon Tartikoff were both inducted posthumously during the same ceremony. The Hall of Fame was created to honor people in television who have made extraordinary contributions to the medium.
Following his induction in the Hall of Fame Cappleman said, “It’s not about what I’ve done; it’s what the people have done around me. I simply let them do their jobs. I found out a long time ago that if you hire the right people, tell them what you expect of them, and leave them alone, they’ll do a much better job than if you try to micromanage them.”
In 2002, Cappleman was awarded the TV Academy’s Charles F. Jenkins Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions in television technology and engineering.
Cappleman has been involved with television since its infancy, even serving as the pool production supervisor on “Gemini-Titan 4,” the first space shot controlled out of what was then the new Johnson Space Center in Houston.
While at CBS, he worked on shows such as “The Red Skelton Show,” “Playhouse 90,” “The Judy Garland Show,” “The Ed Sullivan Show,” “All in the Family,” “Person to Person,” “The Smothers Brothers,” “The Young and the Restless,” “The Bold and the Beautiful,” “The Price is Right,” “The Carol Burnett Show” and “The Steve Harvey Show.”
From 1976 to 1984, Cappleman served as the president of the General Commission on Communications for the denomination.
Cappleman’s pastor, the Rev. Kirsten Kay Barre, called him “an amazing lay person. In his tenure at St. Paul’s, he has served in every lay capacity.”
He started a television ministry at the church more than 20 years ago. Church services continue to be broadcast on cable access every Sunday except for the summer months. “He continues to put together a crew every single Sunday,” Barre said.
Cappleman currently serves on the church council and finance committee, and leads the congregation’s stewardship campaign. “He is a man of very deep personal faith,” she noted. “I think that his relationship with God is so much a part of who is, that he is one of the most kind, generous and Christian men I have ever met.”
Cappleman said he is moving into a different phase of life — as one door closes another will open and he’s waiting to see what opens. “Remember, Moses did not get his big assignment until he was 80,” he pointed out. “It lasted 40 years and it was not the easiest assignment.”
*Larry Hygh Jr. is the communications director for the California-Pacific Annual Conference.
News media contact: Linda Green, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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