We lost a part of television history last week when Ed Andre passed away at the age of 94.
Long before the North TV staff started producing programs for North Attleboro cable subscribers, Ed volunteered his time to operate cameras so residents could watch live coverage of their selectmen and representative town meeting members.
Although Ed wasn’t born and raised in North Attleboro he certainly impacted the way people followed their government and was surely worthy of being a subject for our “North Attleborough Legends” series.
His story was fascinating. Upon graduating from high school, Ed joined the U.S. Navy at the age of 17 serving as a medical aide in the South Pacific during World War II. After the war, he earned a degree in history and communications from West Virginia University.
While at WVU he appeared in theater productions with fellow classmate Don Knotts – the same Don Knotts best known for his Emmy Award winning role as Barney Fife on “The Andy Griffith Show.”
After graduation in 1950, he literally made a bold move and relocated to New York City landing a job with the DuMont Television Network.
I had never heard of the DuMont network before I met Ed; he told me that the network rivaled CBS and NBC from the 1940s until it went bankrupt in 1955.
One of Ed’s assignments at the DuMont Network was to operate a camera for a nightly science fiction series set in Earth’s distant future starring Al Hodge. “Captain Video and His Video Rangers” tracked the adventures of a group of fighters for truth and justice operating from a secret base on a mountaintop, according to the Wikipedia website.
While most people today never heard of Hodge, that’s not the case with the star of another of Ed’s assignments.
Before hosting “The Jackie Gleason Show” in the 1960s on CBS, “The Great One” starred in “Cavalcade of Stars” on the DuMont Network with Ed manning one of the show’s cameras.
A sketch on that show led to the launch of “The Honeymooners” series featuring Gleason, Art Carney, Audrey Meadows, and Joyce Randolph.
“Art Carney would often join the crew for cigarettes outside of the studio, he was just one of us, never acting the like the star he was,” Ed told North Attleboro selectmen when the board honored him in August of 2013 for his years of bringing town government to viewers at home.
He moved to Massachusetts in 1960 and worked at WHDH-TV and later WCVB. One of those assignments was shooting highlights of Red Sox games at Fenway Park.
The 8 o’clock games – yes, 8 o’clock – were recorded on film back then and Ed would hustle the film to the studio to be developed and spliced into highlights for the sports segment during the 11 o’clock news. That was, of course, when players stayed in the batter’s box between pitches and baseball games were typically played in two hours or less.
Ed’s talent was evident and he was promoted to the position of production manager at channel 5 in 1975. The Boston segment of the annual Labor Day Jerry Lewis Telethon was part of his responsibilities at the station. He remained at WCVB until he retired in 1991.
Channel 5’s loss was North Attleboro’s gain and when town leaders agreed to shift the responsibility of the three public access channels from Comcast to the organization that eventually became North TV, Ed stepped up. I can’t imagine too many cities and towns across the country that had an Ed Andre to seek for advice in organizing their local channels.
When North TV needed people to cover governmental meetings and town events, Ed again stepped up. He also agreed to sit in front of the camera when we were in need of our host for our monthly program honoring veterans.
Our entire staff used to look forward to the days when Ed was scheduled to pick up or drop off a camera and tripod. We were all disappointed but understood the day when he told us he could no longer cover events due to the failing health of Cynthia, his loving wife of 61 years.
Talking to Ed always reminded me of the times I shared with my dad before he passed away in 2003. Their mannerisms, speech pattern, and even after shave were the same. I loved every second I was able to share with Ed and regret not making more time to visit him.
I’m so happy that Ed was on the stage with me the night we presented the first of the $500 North TV Ed Andre Scholarships we award every year to North Attleboro teenagers graduating from Bishop Feehan, North Attleboro and Tri-County high schools, attending college full-time and majoring in a communications-related field.
The scholarships are a fitting legacy to a man who will never know how much he was cherished.
Donations to honor Ed Andre may be made to: The Edward Andre Scholarship Fund, c/o North TV, Attn: Peter Gay, 93 South Washington St., North Attleboro, MA 02760. Three $500.00 scholarships are awarded annually to students who will be going to college full-time in communications-related majors.
