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James Thomas Aubrey, Jr. (December 14, 1918 – September 3, 1994) was a leading American television and film executive. President of the CBS television network during the early 1960s, he put some of television's most enduring series on the air, including ''Gilligan's Island'' and ''The Beverly Hillbillies''. Under Aubrey, CBS dominated American television the way General Motors and General Electric dominated their industries. ''The New York Times Magazine'' in 1964 called Aubrey "a master of programming whose divinations led to successes that are breathtaking".〔Robinson, Leonard Wallace. "After the Yankees What?: A TV Drama." ''The New York Times Magazine''. November 15, 1964.〕 Aubrey replaced CBS Television president Louis Cowan, who was slowly dismissed after the quiz show scandals.〔Sterling, C. H., & Kittross, J. M. (1990). Stay Tuned: A concise history of American broadcasting (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA:Wadsworth.〕 Despite his successes in television, Aubrey's abrasive personality and oversized ego – "Picture Machiavelli and Karl Rove at a University of Colorado football recruiting party" wrote ''Variety'' in 2004〔Grossman, Andrew. "The Smiling Cobra."'' Variety VLife.'' June–July 2004. 68–73, 78. (Profile of Aubrey)〕 – led to his firing from CBS amid charges of improprieties. "The circumstances rivaled the best of CBS adventure or mystery shows," declared ''The New York Times'' in its front-page story on his firing, which came on "the sunniest Sunday in February" 1965. He earned the nickname "Smiling Cobra" for his brutal decision-making ways. Aubrey governed CBS with firm grip and it did not go unnoticed. He had great success selecting network programs in the beginning, but was suddenly dismissed in February 1965. Aubrey offered no explanation following his dismissal, nor did CBS President Frank Stanton or Board Chairman William Paley.〔 After four years as an independent producer, Aubrey was hired by financier Kirk Kerkorian to preside over Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's near-total shutdown in the 1970s, during which he slashed the budget and alienated producers and directors but brought profits to a company that had suffered huge losses. Aubrey resigned from MGM after four years, declaring his job was done, and then vanished into almost total obscurity for the last two decades of his life. Hollywood executive Sherry Lansing, a close friend of Aubrey's for two decades, told the ''Los Angeles Times'' in 1986: Jim is different. He does his own dirty work. Jim is one of those people who are willing to say, "I didn't like your movie." Directness is disarming to people who are used to sugar-coating. It's tough for people who need approval to see somebody who doesn't. Myths and legends begin to surround that kind of person.〔 ==Early years== Born in LaSalle, Illinois, James Thomas Steven Aubrey was the eldest of four sons of James Thomas Aubrey, Sr., an advertising executive with the Chicago firm of Aubrey, Moore, and Wallace; and his wife, the former Mildred Stever. He grew up in the affluent Chicago suburb of Lake Forest and attended Lake Forest Academy, Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, and Princeton University. All four boys, James, Stever, David, and George, went to Lake Forest Academy, Exeter and Princeton; his brother Stever became a successful advertising man at J. Walter Thompson before heading the F. William Free agency. While at Princeton all four brothers were members of the Tiger Inn eating club. "My father insisted on accomplishment," Aubrey recalled in 1986.〔 In college, Aubrey was a star on the football team, playing left end. He graduated in 1941 with honors in English and entered the United States Army Air Forces. During his service in World War II, Aubrey rose to the rank of major and taught military flying to actor James Stewart, who was a licensed civilian pilot.〔(【引用サイトリンク】work=jimmy.org ) Retrieved on January 24, 2008.〕〔"Dethroned King of Air; James Thomas Aubrey Jr." ''The New York Times''. March 1, 1965. 52.〕〔"Princeton Confers 624 Degrees Today." ''The New York Times''. June 17, 1941. 19.〕 While stationed in southern California, he met Phyllis Thaxter (born November 20, 1921),〔(【引用サイトリンク】work=imdb.com ) Retrieved on January 24, 2008.〕 an actress signed to MGM, whom he married in November 1944. Thaxter's first role was as Ted Lawson's wife in ''Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'' (1944), and her final film was as Martha, in the 1978 ''Superman''. They had two children, Susan Schuyler "Skye" Aubrey (born c. 1946) and James Watson Aubrey (born c. 1953). The marriage ended in divorce in 1962.〔"(The Regency Firing )", ''Time Magazine'', March 12, 1965. Retrieved on January 26, 2008.〕 Aubrey was "6-foot 2-inch with an incandescent smile" with "unrevealing polar blue eyes," said ''The New York Times Magazine'' in 1964.〔 The next year ''Life Magazine'' described him as "youthful, handsome, brainy, with an incandescent smile, a quiet, somewhat salty wit and, when he cared to turn it on, considerable charm. He was always fastidiously turned out, from his Jerry the Barber haircut to his CBS-eye cuff links."〔 One producer said, "Aubrey is one of the most insatiably curious guys I know."〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「James T. Aubrey」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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