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class of 1945
inducted in 1987
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Lewis Klein
Television Pioneer &
Educator
As the executive producer of American
Bandstand with Dick Clark, Lewis Klein had Philadelphia's teen population on their feet and
dancing in the early 1950's. He has since risen to become president of
Gateway Communications Inc., a broadcast group which owns and operates
stations such as WBNG-TV (Binghamton, New York), WTAJ-TV (Altoona, Pennsylvania), WLYH-TV (Lancaster, Pennsylvania), and WOWK-TV (Huntington, West Virginia).
Klein, a 1945 graduate of Cheltenham High School, attended the University of Pennsylvania where he majored in English. After
completing college, Klein joined WFIL-TV (Channel Six), directing and
producing a number of programs for the station until 1972. He was executive
producer of American Bandstand and the award-winning Frontiers of Knowledge.
Recognized as a television programmer whose experience spans the breadth and
history of commercial television, Klein has served as president of The
Television and Radio Advertising Club of Philadelphia (TRAC), the National
Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE), and the Delaware Valley
Chapter of the Broadcast Pioneers. Klein was also a faculty member of the University of Pennsylvania's English Department, and also taught
at Temple University's School of Communication and Theater.
Klein has gained wide recognition is his field. In 1980, he received NATPE's "President's Award", and in 1983 the
Broadcast Pioneers Chapter honored him as the "Broadcaster of the
Year". In 1990 Klein received the same award from the Pennsylvania
Association of Broadcasters.
Active in community as well, Klein served three years as chairman of the
board of the Police Athletic League (PAL). In 1975, he received PAL's Community Service Award. He is currently on the
board of trustees of the Einstein Medical Center, the Philadelphia Psychiatric Center, Moss Rehabilitation, and Rodeph Shalom and serves as President of the Corporate
Alliance for Drug Education.
Klein lives with his wife in Rydal, PA. His children are graduates of CHS as
are his mother, sister and brother.
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