Inventor. He was an electrical engineer who shaped modern television by inventing the teleprompter and pioneering cable TV technology. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame in 1941, he worked for General Electric Laboratories before joining 20th Century Fox New York, as Director of Television Research in 1947. There in collaboration with Irving Berlin Kahn and Fred Barton Jr., he invented the teleprompter, a transparent device which enabled speakers to read their lines while looking directly into a television camera. In 1950, the teleprompter debuted on a TV soap opera called "The First Hundred Years" and Herbert Hoover became the first politician to use a teleprompter to give a public address at the 1952 Republican National Convention. In June 1973, Schlafly made history when he executed the first satellite transmission of a cable program from Washington, D.C. In 1975, he engineered the famous HBO satellite transmission of the "Thrilla in Manila" boxing match, between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali. He also developed the first pay cable TV system that permitted subscribers to order special programs to be delivered by coaxial cable. Among his many awards he received two Emmys, one for television technology for his invention of the teleprompter and one for achievement in cable television technology. In 1992, he was presented the Notre Dame Man of the Year Award and was inducted into the Cable Television Hall of Fame in 2008.
Inventor. He was an electrical engineer who shaped modern television by inventing the teleprompter and pioneering cable TV technology. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame in 1941, he worked for General Electric Laboratories before joining 20th Century Fox New York, as Director of Television Research in 1947. There in collaboration with Irving Berlin Kahn and Fred Barton Jr., he invented the teleprompter, a transparent device which enabled speakers to read their lines while looking directly into a television camera. In 1950, the teleprompter debuted on a TV soap opera called "The First Hundred Years" and Herbert Hoover became the first politician to use a teleprompter to give a public address at the 1952 Republican National Convention. In June 1973, Schlafly made history when he executed the first satellite transmission of a cable program from Washington, D.C. In 1975, he engineered the famous HBO satellite transmission of the "Thrilla in Manila" boxing match, between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali. He also developed the first pay cable TV system that permitted subscribers to order special programs to be delivered by coaxial cable. Among his many awards he received two Emmys, one for television technology for his invention of the teleprompter and one for achievement in cable television technology. In 1992, he was presented the Notre Dame Man of the Year Award and was inducted into the Cable Television Hall of Fame in 2008.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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