Joseph Cates on AllMovie

Television impresario Joseph Cates created one of the medium's first big game shows, the infamous $64,0000 Question. Credited as the one responsible for making specials a regular part of network programming, Cates directed over 1,000 television specials, many of which he also scripted and produced. He particularly loved producing awards ceremonies, televised circuses, beauty pageants, and popular music concerts of many genres. Over his career, Cates earned two Emmys, one for producing a 1970 Anne Bancroft special and the other for a 1972 tribute to George Gershwin. It was Cates who cast Art Carney in his signature role of Ed Norton in Jackie Gleason's The Honeymooners. Cates is also a well-known Broadway producer and has backed such shows as Spoon River Anthology and Elmer Gantry.