Philip W. Collyer, a long-time television director and producer who pioneered the development of captioning for deaf and hard of hearing viewers during his nearly half-century association with WGBH-TV in Boston, died Sunday, surrounded by his family, of complications from leukemia. He was 68.
Friends and colleagues remembered Collyer as an innovative and dedicated professional who was committed to the mission of public broadcasting.
“Phil personified the best of public broadcasting,” said WGBH Vice Chair Henry Becton Jr. “He believed passionately in using media to make education and culture available to everyone. He was a great organizer of large production teams and motivated them with his humor and calm command under pressure.
“Phil also worked on an amazing range of exceptional programming—from the Oscar-winning profile of poet Robert Frost to the WGBH Auction, which he produced for many years,” Becton continued. “It’s hard to imagine WGBH without him.”
Longtime friend Edye Baker, who worked with Collyer for 20 years in her role as WGBH Auction manager, described Collyer as “intensely loyal to WGBH.”
“As the indomitable executive producer of the WGBH Auction and the Rare and Fine Wine Auction, Phil welcomed the community to enter the world of live television in support of WGBH,” she said. “He had an uncommon ability to treat volunteers with such deep respect that their commitment to WGBH grew with each encounter with him.”
A Brockton resident for more than 40 years, Collyer was raised in South Dennis and graduated from Yarmouth High School. In 1959, the Boston University junior began volunteering at fledgling educational television station WGBH. During his summer breaks, he worked in the station’s mailroom, before returning as a graduate student in WGBH’s BU Scholar Program, which afforded him the opportunity to run the station’s master control room and assist with studio productions. Soon he was given the opportunity to direct numerous television programs. It was while directing an art series called Images that he met his future wife Marie, who was volunteering on the production crew.
In 1962, Collyer became a full-time WGBH crew member, serving on the production staffs of such early productions as Prospects of Mankind with Eleanor Roosevelt and College Sport of the Week, believed to be one of the first television broadcasts of college sports.
From physics to folk music, chemistry to college basketball, Collyer produced and directed a diverse array of early television programming. In 1967, he directed America’s participation in Our World, the first-ever live, around-the-world telecast that famously featured The Beatles singing “All You Need Is Love.” For that historic telecast, Collyer led a WGBH production crew to New Jersey, where they broadcast live from the scene of the Glassboro Summit between President Lyndon Johnson and Soviet Premier Aleksei Kosygin.
Yet it was perhaps Collyer’s role as the first director of The Caption Center at WGBH that would have the biggest impact on television audiences across America and around the world. Collyer spearheaded the effort to caption Julia Child’s The French Chef, the first television program ever captioned for deaf viewers. He also pioneered the captioning of new programs with President Richard Nixon’s second inaugural address in 1973, and went on to create the Captioned ABC Evening News, a captioned version of ABC’s national news. The broadcast aired without commercials on PBS stations just five hours after the original ABC broadcast at a time when same-day captioning was unheard of.
“Captioning all began with Phil,” said Larry Goldberg, director of Media Access at WGBH. “It’s hard to imagine accomplishing all that he did with what we today would consider very primitive technology. But Phil’s ingenuity, persistence and innovations live on and are enhancing the lives of millions upon millions of deaf and hard of hearing people the world over.”
In a 1988 interview for a WGBH oral history program, Collyer recounted writing a high school paper on the relatively new concept of educational television. “I recall writing at the end of my paper that ‘Someday I hope to work for WGBH,’” he said. “I was fortunate enough to have that come true.”
In addition to the work he did for WGBH, Collyer consulted with several other PBS stations around the country to help them start or improve upon their own development programs, which included televised auctions. He enjoyed sharing his talent and expertise, and often volunteered to organize and produce cable and radio auctions, wine tastings and other events on behalf of many local non-profit organizations including the Talking Information Center and the Easton Lions Club.
Collyer reveled in his time spent with his children and grandchildren, and relished annual trips to Jamaica and the Caribbean with his wife. An avid baseball fan, Collyer loved the Boston Red Sox and was a Brockton Rox season ticket holder. He spent many years as a Little League umpire and was also a certified U.S. Tennis Association official for many professional tennis events including the U.S. Open. He most enjoyed overseeing and officiating the national father/son and father/daughter tennis tournaments as well as many senior events at the Longwood Cricket Club.
Collyer is survived by his wife of 44 years, Marie (Amshy) Collyer; a son, Philip, of Norton; three daughters, Kathie Cornelius and her husband Jeff of East Taunton; Laurie Keating and her husband Joe of Plymouth, Wendy Potts and her husband Galen of Norton; eight grandsons and one granddaughter; a sister Diane Stephens and her husband Francis of Fitchburg; a brother David and his wife Irene of Florida; several nieces and nephews, and many loving friends.
Funeral from the Conley Funeral Home, 138 Belmont Street (Rte 123) Brockton Friday at 8am. Funeral Mass in Our Lady of Lourdes Church at 9am. Burial at a later date in Melrose Cemetery. Visiting Hours Thursday 3-8pm. In lieu of flowers, donations in his name may be made to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, 495 Old Connecticut Path, Ste 220, Framingham, MA 01701 (www.lls.org). Blood or platelet donations also may be made through the American Red Cross or Brigham & Women’s Hospital Blood Donor Services.