Natpe names Tartikoff recipients

Clockwise from top left: Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award winners Byron Allen, Mara Brock Akil, Bob Greenblatt, Henry Winkler, Betty White and Rita Moreno

Former NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt, actor and comedian Betty White and Happy Days star Henry Winkler are among the latest industry figures set to receive the Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award.

Media mogul Byron Allen, producer and screenwriter Mara Brock Akil and actress, singer and dancer Rita Moreno will also receive the accolade at a special reception at the Natpe Miami market on January 23.

The awards take place at Natpe every January and are named after one of US television’s most respected programmers. The aim is to recognise TV professionals who have demonstrated a high degree of excellence in their field.

Greenblatt was most recently chairman of NBC Entertainment. After joining the company in 2011, he returned the then-failing network to number one in the 18-49 demo, where it remained for five consecutive seasons. In his final season as chairman, Greenblatt led NBC to the top spot among total viewers for the first time in more than a decade.

A Golden Globe- and Tony Award-winning producer, Greenblatt also ran Showtime and was a top executive at Fox.

At the age of 96, White remains one of the busiest comic actors in Hollywood, after a career spanning seven decades.

A staple guest on American gameshows such as Password, Match Game and The $25,000 Pyramid, White became the first woman to receive an Emmy for Outstanding Game Show Host, claiming the award in 1983 for Just Men!. She is also known for her appearances on Boston Legal, Mama’s Family and Saturday Night Live.

Winkler famously played The Fonz in classic sitcom Happy Days and has more recently been co-starring as acting teacher Gene Cousineau in HBO’s dark comedy hit Barry. In September he won the Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy for his role on the series, which stars Bill Hader.

Allen is the founder, chairman and CEO of global media and technology company Entertainment Studios. He owns eight TV networks, including The Weather Channel, which was acquired in March 2018.

Brock Akil has written and produced more than 300 episodes of television. Having begun her career as a writer on series such as South Central, Moesha and The Jamie Foxx Show, she quickly rose up the ranks, proving herself to be a pivotal voice in storytelling. Brock Akil went on to create seminal drama Girlfriends in 2000.

Finally, Moreno has won all four of the most prestigious awards in show business: an Oscar, a Tony, two Emmys and a Grammy. Her credits span more than six decades and she currently stars in Netflix’s Latino remake of Norman Lear’s classic sitcom One Day at a Time.