Stephen Talbot(I)
- Producer
- Writer
- Actor
Born in Hollywood, the son of actor Lyle Talbot, Stephen Talbot
became a child actor, appearing as Beaver's friend, Gilbert, in more
than 50 episodes of the iconic baby boomer series "Leave It To Beaver."
He also appeared in many TV shows of the late '50s and early '60s,
including "Perry Mason," "Lassie," "The Twilight Zone," "Wanted: Dead
of Alive," "The Donna Reed Show," and "The Lucy Show."
As an adult, Talbot turned to reporting and documentary filmmaking. He
began as a producer and on-air reporter for KQED, the public television
station in San Francisco. He had early success with two documentaries
that set the tone for his career: "Broken Arrow" (1980) an
investigation of nuclear weapons accidents, and "The Case of Dashiell
Hammett" (1982), a portrait of the mystery writer. Both films won
George Foster Peabody Awards.
Talbot began producing documentaries for the critically acclaimed PBS
series, "Frontline," in 1992 with his film on the Bush-Clinton
presidential race, "The Best Campaign Money Can Buy," which won a
DuPont / Columbia University Award. It was the start of a long association with "Frontline,"
where he produced and wrote ten documentaries for the series, including
"News War: What's Happening to the News" (2007), "Justice for Sale" (1999), "Spying on Saddam"
(1999), "The Long March of Newt Gingrich" (1996), "Rush Limbaugh's
America" (1995) and "The Heartbeat of America" (1993) about the travails of General Motors.
When "Frontline's" executive producer David Fanning launched an
international news magazine series, "Frontline World," in 2002, he
named Talbot as the Series Editor with a mandate to increase global
reporting in the wake of 9/11 and to develop a new generation of
younger reporters and producers. From 2002-2008, Talbot was
instrumental in recruiting new talent and in commissioning and
supervising over 100 broadcast stories for 30 hour-long episodes of the
Emmy award-winning series. He also went to Lebanon and Syria to produce
his own report, "The Earthquake," about Lebanon's Cedar Revolution
with correspondent Kate Seelye. Talbot also oversaw "Rough Cuts," a
series of original videos for the "Frontline World" website.
Throughout his career of more than 40 years in public television, Talbot
has continued to produce history documentaries and biographies, alongside his
broadcast journalism work. With David Davis, Talbot wrote and directed
"The Sixties: The Years That Shaped a Generation," a two-hour history
special that aired nationally on PBS in 2005. It was based on Talbot's
earlier film, "1968." Talbot has also written and co-produced several
biographies of noted writers, including Ken Kesey, Carlos Fuentes,
Beryl Markham, Maxine Hong Kingston and John Dos Passos.
In 2008, he formed The Talbot Players, an independent media company in
San Francisco, with his brother David and sister Margaret, and executive produced
two music show specials for PBS, "Sound Tracks: Music Without Borders," in 2010
and 2012 with host Marco Werman, as well as an online companion
series of music performances and interviews.
Talbot also continues to serve as senior producer or executive producer for a number of
independent documentaries, such as director Mimi Chakarova's expose of
sex trafficking in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, "The Price of
Sex" (2011). He has consulted and senior produced for public media
organizations, including the Center for Investigative Reporting and the PBS
series Independent Lens.
Talbot's recent documentaries include a one-hour biography
he wrote for public television about the late San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, "Moscone: A
Legacy of Change" (2018) and four documentaries he co-wrote and co-produced for the NBC
series "Bay Area Revelations," including regional Emmy winners , "Loma Prieta Earthquake: 30 Years Later" (2019)
and "Riding the Waves" (2020) about surfing in northern California.
Talbot's latest film, "The Movement and the 'Madman,' " (2023) debuted on the PBS series American
Experience. It tells the story of how two major anti-war demonstrations in the fall of 1969 pressured
President Nixon to call off his "madman" plans for a major escalation of the war, including
threats to use nuclear weapons.
became a child actor, appearing as Beaver's friend, Gilbert, in more
than 50 episodes of the iconic baby boomer series "Leave It To Beaver."
He also appeared in many TV shows of the late '50s and early '60s,
including "Perry Mason," "Lassie," "The Twilight Zone," "Wanted: Dead
of Alive," "The Donna Reed Show," and "The Lucy Show."
As an adult, Talbot turned to reporting and documentary filmmaking. He
began as a producer and on-air reporter for KQED, the public television
station in San Francisco. He had early success with two documentaries
that set the tone for his career: "Broken Arrow" (1980) an
investigation of nuclear weapons accidents, and "The Case of Dashiell
Hammett" (1982), a portrait of the mystery writer. Both films won
George Foster Peabody Awards.
Talbot began producing documentaries for the critically acclaimed PBS
series, "Frontline," in 1992 with his film on the Bush-Clinton
presidential race, "The Best Campaign Money Can Buy," which won a
DuPont / Columbia University Award. It was the start of a long association with "Frontline,"
where he produced and wrote ten documentaries for the series, including
"News War: What's Happening to the News" (2007), "Justice for Sale" (1999), "Spying on Saddam"
(1999), "The Long March of Newt Gingrich" (1996), "Rush Limbaugh's
America" (1995) and "The Heartbeat of America" (1993) about the travails of General Motors.
When "Frontline's" executive producer David Fanning launched an
international news magazine series, "Frontline World," in 2002, he
named Talbot as the Series Editor with a mandate to increase global
reporting in the wake of 9/11 and to develop a new generation of
younger reporters and producers. From 2002-2008, Talbot was
instrumental in recruiting new talent and in commissioning and
supervising over 100 broadcast stories for 30 hour-long episodes of the
Emmy award-winning series. He also went to Lebanon and Syria to produce
his own report, "The Earthquake," about Lebanon's Cedar Revolution
with correspondent Kate Seelye. Talbot also oversaw "Rough Cuts," a
series of original videos for the "Frontline World" website.
Throughout his career of more than 40 years in public television, Talbot
has continued to produce history documentaries and biographies, alongside his
broadcast journalism work. With David Davis, Talbot wrote and directed
"The Sixties: The Years That Shaped a Generation," a two-hour history
special that aired nationally on PBS in 2005. It was based on Talbot's
earlier film, "1968." Talbot has also written and co-produced several
biographies of noted writers, including Ken Kesey, Carlos Fuentes,
Beryl Markham, Maxine Hong Kingston and John Dos Passos.
In 2008, he formed The Talbot Players, an independent media company in
San Francisco, with his brother David and sister Margaret, and executive produced
two music show specials for PBS, "Sound Tracks: Music Without Borders," in 2010
and 2012 with host Marco Werman, as well as an online companion
series of music performances and interviews.
Talbot also continues to serve as senior producer or executive producer for a number of
independent documentaries, such as director Mimi Chakarova's expose of
sex trafficking in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, "The Price of
Sex" (2011). He has consulted and senior produced for public media
organizations, including the Center for Investigative Reporting and the PBS
series Independent Lens.
Talbot's recent documentaries include a one-hour biography
he wrote for public television about the late San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, "Moscone: A
Legacy of Change" (2018) and four documentaries he co-wrote and co-produced for the NBC
series "Bay Area Revelations," including regional Emmy winners , "Loma Prieta Earthquake: 30 Years Later" (2019)
and "Riding the Waves" (2020) about surfing in northern California.
Talbot's latest film, "The Movement and the 'Madman,' " (2023) debuted on the PBS series American
Experience. It tells the story of how two major anti-war demonstrations in the fall of 1969 pressured
President Nixon to call off his "madman" plans for a major escalation of the war, including
threats to use nuclear weapons.