Industry Standard 69: Gene Blythe

GENE BLYTHE was the executive vice president of casting at ABC Entertainment Television Group for over two decades. In his unprecedented tenure, he was known and universally respected for having served under 8 different studio presidents in almost 20 years at the network—with a career that is impressive for both its length and impact on the studio. Gene started in show business as theater actor, working on Broadway for two years, eventually switching into theater casting in new york. He quickly gained notoriety for his work. Eventually being offered to come out to Los Angeles to work at the prestigious mark taper forum. His television casting career took off at MTM Productions where he supervised casting on the huge hit tv series "st.Elsewhere" and the debut season of "Newhart." Disney tapped Blythe to be one of four executives to head its television department at touchstone in 1988. While serving as senior vice president and head of casting for touchstone, he oversaw all network television projects and was instrumental in the original casting of such monstrous series successes as "home improvement," "boy meets world," "popular,"  "Unhappily Ever After," and "Ellen." he also was the driving force behind the first deals of such talented actors as Tim Allen, Drew Carey, Salma Hayek, Margaret Cho, Sarah Silverman, and Dave Chappelle. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.