August 4, 2017
Los Angeles – The Directors Guild of America made the following statement upon learning of the passing of Robert E. Vitarelli:
The DGA mourns the passing of News Director and 1998 DGA Lifetime Achievement in News honoree Robert E. Vitarelli. Robert’s distinguished career was most notably spent in the CBS Washington News Bureau for over three decades where he contributed to such shows as Face the Nation, the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather, CBS This Morning, Nightwatch and 60 Minutes Point/Counterpoint.
Robert directed news coverage of some of the most significant events in modern U.S. history – from the first launching of an American (Alan Shepard) into space in 1961, the 1964 Civil Rights Hearings, and the first live coverage of a US President's (Nixon) trip to the People's Republic of China in 1972, to five Presidential Inaugural ceremonies, six political conventions, and funeral services of Robert F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, and Presidents Kennedy and Eisenhower. He will be deeply missed.
DGA Awards:
In 1998, the DGA honored Robert E. Vitarelli with the Lifetime Achievement in News Award.