Gail Berman, a 1974 graduate of Abington Senior High School, was part of the youngest team of producers in Broadway history before becoming an executive with Fox Broadcasting Company and Paramount Pictures.

According to the Jewish Women’s Archive, Berman moved to Abington when she was fifteen because her father, who worked in the insurance industry, had been transferred. “She refused to make friends in the new city, returning to Long Island each weekend to visit friends,” the entry said.

Berman served from 2000 to 2005 as president of Entertainment for Fox Broadcasting Company where she was in charge of all program development and scheduling as well as marketing, business affairs, and promotions. Network shows under Berman’s tenure included American Idol, The Simple Life, Hell’s Kitchen, Nanny 911, 24, The Bernie Mac Show, The War at Home, House, Arrested Development, Bones, Prison Break, The O.C., American Dad! and Family Guy.

She became president of Paramount Pictures in March 2005 and was responsible for the studio’s annual slate of films, including the acquisition of literary properties, development, budgeting, casting, and the production of motion pictures for Paramount Pictures, MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies. She left Paramount in January 2007.

In 2004, in response to the firestorm that followed the revealing of Janet Jackson’s breast during a live NFL Super Bowl half-time show, Berman said:

As a network president I have heard, and as a parent I understand, the concerns being expressed by the American public and by this subcommittee that television content can at times be inappropriate for children, particularly during live events that are widely viewed as “family friendly.” At the same time, I think we all recognize that the First Amendment requires us as a society to tread lightly when it comes to translating concerns about television content into government regulation.

Today she serves as President of the Producers Guild of America and as chairman and CEO of The Jackal Group, a production studio creating scripted and unscripted television, feature films, and commercial theater.

In 1978, Berman graduated with a B.A. in theater from the University of Maryland. For more on her life and career, you can click here.

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Photo: The Jackal Group