PBS Executive Producer Jac Venza Passes Away at 97

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that executive producer Jac Venza has passed away. 

Venza was a pioneer in ensuring the education of performing arts through the PBS Great Performances series, which began in 1972. Under the Great Performances heading came Theater in American, Dance in American, and Music in America. Over the course of its time on television, Great Performances has accrued 67 Emmy Awards.

Venza's PBS division also worked on a live telecast of The Man Who Came to Dinner with Nathan Lane as well as the acclaimed 2004 six-part documentary Broadway: The American Musical, which covered the early history of Broadway through Wicked.

In an interview in 2002, Venza told PBS "I knew from the age of eight that I wanted to be an artist."

Photo credit: PBS