Personal Award: Bud Greenspan

One of the more memorable quotes from this year’s Peabody Awards deliberations was made in reference to Bud Greenspan. In the words of one member of the Peabody Board, “Bud Greenspan is his own genre.” An exceptional gift for personal storytelling, a matchless eye for camera angle and location, and above all, a complete and total commitment to truth mark the work of Bud Greenspan. Personal Peabody Awards are meant for individuals whose singular achievements or body of work embody the ideals and aspirations of the best in broadcasting and cable. Those qualities epitomize Mr. Greenspan. Among our 1996 entries were his two brilliant works for Turner Original Productions: One Hundred Years of Olympic Glory and America’s Greatest Olympians. His film of the Atlanta Olympic Games, which will premiere later this year, marks the fourth in a series of official Olympic films produced by Mr. Greenspan and his brilliant colleagues at Cappy Productions, named for his late, beloved wife Cappy Petrash Greenspan (herself a winner of the Peabody Award for the NBC radio series Monitor). In recognizing Bud Greenspan, the Peabody Board is reminded of the personal integrity and the pursuit of excellence of those progenitors who built our system of broadcasting. In presenting this personal Peabody Award, we hold aloft his Olympian record of achievement, personal grace, integrity, and humility as a beacon for generations of broadcasters and film makers to follow. Bud, this Peabody’s for you.