A scene from "La Traviata" on James Melton's TV Show, Ford Festival (1951)
A couple of weeks ago CBS’s
“60 Minutes” did a rerun of their show about the sons of Julius and Ethel
Rosenberg, and what happened to them after their parents were executed for
espionage in 1953.
Robert and Michael were
adopted by Abel Meeropol and his wife Anne. What does this have to do with
James Melton, you may ask?
About six months ago I was
contacted by David Newstead, who is writing a biography of Abel Meeropol.
Meeropol, under the pen name of Lewis Allen, was a songwriter and social
activist. He wrote the Billie Holiday song “Strange Fruit,” and the Frank
Sinatra song “The House That I Live In” …and he worked on my father’s TV show
“Ford Festival.” In fact, he wrote the theme music for the show.
Life is full of amazing discoveries!
