Philip Minoff, former NBC exec, dies at 92

Keith Minoff recalls that, as a teenager, his friends always seemed to have a few extra minutes just to hang out with his dad at the family's Oceanside home.

"They thought he was cool," Minoff said of his father, Philip Minoff, then a television executive at NBC, "and he always had great stories."

Those stories might have been about huge television stars like Johnny Carson, Jack Benny, Dick Van Dyke or Danny Thomas.

In the son's eyes, the father always seemed "pretty cool."

The elder Minoff, who lived for nearly 60 years in Oceanside, died Sept. 13 of heart illness at an elder care community in Chestnut Ridge, N.Y. He was 92.

When Keith Minoff was about 7 or 8, his father introduced him to Milton Supman in an elevator at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Supman was better known as Soupy Sales, NBC's immensely popular children's TV personality.

"Soupy was my idol," said Keith Minoff, 53, now a Springfield, Mass., attorney, "and here was my dad introducing him."

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Philip Minoff also was among the country's first television critics, working for Cue magazine from 1950 to 1961. His articles and commentary also appeared in newspapers and other magazines, including Collier's and Town & Country.

He went to NBC in 1961 and worked there for 18 years as the network's chief advertising writer, promoting programming.

One of Minoff's most personally satisfying moments at NBC, his son said, came the day after the network's infamous "Heidi Game."

On Nov. 17, 1968, the New York Jets, headed for their only Super Bowl championship, were leading the Oakland Raiders by three points in the final minutes of an American Football League game.

Outraging football viewers, NBC decided to break away from the game early so it could air the TV-movie special "Heidi" promptly at 7 p.m.

The Raiders scored twice in the waning seconds, winning 43-32, after which irate callers flooded the NBC switchboard.

The next day, daily New York newspapers ran a full-page NBC ad, written by Minoff, splattered with positive reviews for "Heidi," including one from Joe Namath, the Jets' star quarterback.

"I didn't get to see it but I heard it was great," Namath said in the ad.

Minoff also was an avid tennis player and loved to write. After his NBC career, he frequently wrote freelance stories for many publications.

"He was just a lot of fun," his son said. "He instilled in family a love of movies, TV, Broadway musicals and sports, especially baseball and the Mets."

In addition to his son, Philip Minoff is survived by his wife of 66 years, Frances Minoff of Chestnut Ridge; son Iles Minoff of Arlington, Va.; daughter Jill Scherer of Airmont; 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

A memorial service was held Sept. 15 in Chestnut Ridge. The body was cremated.