Owen Simon, a public relations executive for Westinghouse and Group W Productions, passed away in Los Angeles on April 2nd. He was 93.
In his career, Simon most notably worked on campaigns for series like “The Mike Douglas Show,” “The Merv Griffin Show” and other Westinghouse productions. Simon was noted for his kindness and wit in his industry.
In 1997, after 40 years of work, Simon retired. The longtime exec said in an interview that his post-work plans included training his grandkids at basketball. “It seems time to start getting them in shape as a basketball team,” Simon told Variety.
Raised in Pennsylvania, Simon got his feet wet at Pittsburgh radio stations KVQ and KDKA. He was promoted to publicity manager of KDKA in 1957.
He later moved to Group W and rose to publicity chief in 1977. He bided his time at Westinghouse and CBS before heading west in 1978 after “The Mike Douglas Show” moved to Los Angeles.
He finished out his career working as an executive and consultant at CBS’ Eyemark Entertainment.
Along with writing poetry and songs, he filled his retirement with Broadway shows and Scrabble. He was also a 17-year volunteer at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.
He is survived by a son and two daughters as well as five grandsons.
The family requests that donations be made to the Skirball Cultural Center.
