Director Robert G. Myhrum '48 encapsulated a generation of television, as he shaped the field in its formative stages, and then exited nearly 30 years later from a world which he saw as overly formulaic and corporate.

Over his long and distinguished career, Myhrum worked on a wide variety of projects, most notably as the director of "Sesame Street" and numerous soap operas, including "Secret Storm."

Fifty years after his Harvard graduation, Myhrum returns to the University this week, and he credits much of his success to his Harvard experiences.

Playing in the Pudding

Although he skipped graduation commencement in favor of his wedding, Myhrum calls Harvard "the best thing that could have happened to me."

As an active member of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals, Myhrum played the female lead in the company's 100th anniversary production and the male lead the following year.

"My experiences in the Hasty Pudding had as much to do with [my career choice] as anything," Myhrum says.

In addition, as president of the A.D. Club and a member of the Signet Society, he says he made friendships that influenced both his decisions and choices.

After graduation, Myhrum taught English in prep schools during the school year, but worked in theater in Duxbury in the summers. He became increasingly involved in theater and graduated in 1955 with a Master of Fine Arts in theater from Yale.

TV: A Transformative Medium

Myhrum planned to go on and teach at Smith College, but a coincidence changed his plans--his wife inherited a television. Although he jokingly describes his family as being too snobbish to get a television, watching the McCarthy hearings transformed his view of the medium.

After watching the hearings, Myhrum refused the teaching offer at Smith and began as a mail clerk in the CBS mailroom.

"I went into TV due to J.P. Welch who destroyed Senator McCarthy, not for show business," Myhrum says.

Over the next few years, Myhrum rose quickly through the ranks to the position of director in news and public affairs. However, a few years later, CBS decided his department was not profitable enough and eliminated what Myhrum labeled an "intellectual ghetto."

While at CBS, Myhrum oversaw the first electronic analysis of an electoral primary, which marked one of the first times that computers caught the public eye.