Broadcasting pioneer Lew Klein remembered as ‘wise old owl,’ ‘master of making connections’ and ‘mensch’

One by one, speakers at a memorial service Sunday afternoon for broadcasting pioneer, beloved educator, proactive networker, and all-around mensch Lew Klein recalled how he connected people through luncheons and phone calls, how as a “pack rat” he kept old papers written by his Temple University students, and how while his generosity abounded, his biggest love was for his wife, Janet, and their family.

The prominent speakers came from different walks of life, showing how extensive Klein’s influence was over his 91 years before he died June 12.

A Philadelphia broadcasting legend, Klein helped develop American Bandstand and served as the show’s executive producer, was the guiding force behind Captain Noah and his Magical Ark as well as the Action News format that made 6ABC a local powerhouse, and produced Phillies baseball telecasts for 15 years.

Klein taught at Temple for 67 years. Its media and communications college was named after him in 2017. He also helped kids in need through the Philadelphia Police Athletic League (PAL) and served on its board.

Before an audience of about 300 people — many of whom stood up at one point to be recognized as Temple students, alumni, faculty, or staff — at the Lew Klein Hall auditorium at Temple’s Performing Arts Center on North Broad Street, Temple president Richard Englert recalled Klein as “a gentle giant who walked Temple’s campus with pride, a patient, kind and generous teacher and mentor.”

"As time went on, he even came to resemble a wise old owl with his tufts of eyebrows, his bright, gentle eyes, and that wise, wise smile that seemed to say, ‘I know a few things about you that even you don’t know,’” Englert said.

Klein began teaching broadcasting courses at Temple in 1952 while working as a producer and director at WFIL-TV (now 6ABC).

“In 67 years of teaching, Lew kept meticulous records,” Englert said. “If you visited him, even decades after graduation, he was known to reach into his file drawer and present you with a paper you had written for his class or a recommendation letter that he had written for you to help you get a job. ‘I have thousands of these,’ he would say.”

Bernie Prazenica, president and general manager of WPVI-TV (6ABC), recalled one of those moments. He had Klein as a professor at Temple in the 1970s, and years later, Klein handed something to him and said, “Here’s your final paper from class.”

Prazenica said that after getting more items of his that Klein had kept, he finally asked Klein if he kept all his students’ papers. “He said to me, ‘No, I don’t.’ I said, ‘Why did you keep mine?’ He said, 'Because you were special.’"

“I have a strong feeling that Lew made a whole lot of people feel special over his lifetime,” Prazenica said.

Klein was “a master of making connections,” said Prazenica, who recalled that after he returned to Philadelphia to work at 6ABC, Klein was one of the first people to call him. It was through Klein, Prazenica said, that he began to serve on the board of the PAL, which he now chairs, and had a lunch appointment with then-Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey.

Ramsey told those gathered at Temple that when he became police commissioner in 2008 and Klein was one of the first people to call him, he “had no idea who Lew Klein was.” Klein had introduced himself as a member of the PAL board.

“As a kid growing up, I mean I watched American Bandstand, it was one of my favorite shows, but who watches credits after the show is over?" Ramsey said.

“He wanted me to visit a couple of PAL sites along with him,” Ramsey said. “It didn’t take long before I saw the passion that Lew had for our children here in Philadelphia.”

Bill Giles, chairman emeritus and former part-owner of the Phillies, recalled that when he was asked by the team’s management to come to Philadelphia, Klein called him about a week later and invited him to lunch. “That lunch was probably the most important thing I did for the success of my career in Philadelphia. He told me which writers were going to rip me."

Klein also introduced him to judges. “I don’t know whether he thought I was going to get in trouble or not but he kept bringing judges” to get-togethers, Giles joked to laughter.

David Boardman, dean of Temple’s media and communication school, recalled that when he interviewed for his position in 2013, he was prepared for the tough questions from the faculty and the administrators, but was not prepared for the tough questions from the “little 85-year-old guy” — who turned out to be Klein.

Actor Bob Saget, who attended Temple, spoke to the audience through a video clip that was played on large screens. “Lew met me when I was 18,” said Saget. ″He helped so many people. He taught me so much. Maybe it was just the osmosis of what a mensch he was."

Many recalled how Klein was deeply devoted to his wife, the love of his life. The family had a private funeral service for him shortly after his death.

When it was her turn to speak, Janet Klein told those gathered that her husband was “always simply our dad, nothing fancy” to their children, Stephen and Ellen. This was the first year they missed celebrating Father’s Day with him, she said.

“They knew he belonged to them, just exactly as he was,” she said. “And Lew belonged to all of you simply as he was. He told me that you all were additions to his life. ... You were part of his world."