“He was one of the most generous, giving people I ever met,” said DGA Assistant Secretary-Treasurer Scott Berger, one of the many Guild members Wall mentored during his 27 years on staff at CBS. “He was part of that group that set things in motion. He always proceeded with professionalism and the most courteous manners. Everyone emulated him.”
Wall was one of the first minority stage managers in television when CBS hired him in 1962. He served on the Eastern AD/SM/PA Council from 1971 to 1988. In 1994 he became the fourth recipient of the Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award, the highest honor the Guild can bestow upon an Associate Director or Stage Manager in recognition of service to the Industry and to the DGA.
Born December 12, 1917 in Wilmington, North Carolina, Wall’s long and varied career began as a singer and dancer in a series of Vaudeville acts before he was drafted by the Army. He attended college on the G.I. Bill and through the 1950s and played various roles in New York stage productions, often stage managing and performing in the same show. Joining CBS as the stage manager of the groundbreaking children’s program Captain Kangaroo, Wall became the second African American stage manager hired by the network. Wall eventually persuaded Captain Kangaroo’s producers to create an African American character for the show, and he ended up playing the role himself, becoming known to children across the country as Captain Kangaroo’s friendly next-door neighbor Mr. Baxter well into the 1970s.
Wall also worked as stage manager for many CBS, CBS News and CBS Sports broadcasts, including The CBS Evening News, Face the Nation, 60 Minutes, and NFL Today. In 2008, he was recognized on the air for his 41st consecutive year as stage manager of CBS’ broadcasts of the U.S. Open Tennis Championships. He also stage managed coverage of political conventions, presidential inaugurations, election coverage and space launches of the 1960s.
Although he semi-retired in 1988 at the age of 71, Wall continued to work regularly as a fill-in stage manager until he was 91. In a 2007 DGA Quarterly article Wall looked back on his long career and involvement with the DGA and said, “I enjoyed my time with the Guild, and I am proud to be part of it. My wife says, ‘I thought you were retired.’ But I like to work.”
