Lela Swift, born Lillian Siwoff on February 1st, 1919, in New York City, went to work for CBS Radio when it was undergoing a rapid expansion into a television market. Lela, at 25 years old, originally worked in the CBS secretarial pool in the 1940s to become a steady TV producer, despite vows from others at the studio that her work behind the camera would likely be confined to cooking shows. Lela, promoted in 1949-1950, by CBS as an early live television director, worked with a very young actor named James Dean in 1952. She worked as a director or producer on the CBS television shows "Studio One," "Suspense" and "The Web," which included an episode
(season 2, show #22, air date 20 Feb 1952 "Sleeping Dogs"), with James Dean cast in a role of a bellhop who solves a murder at a hilltop mountain resort. Lela later spent years working with the ABC television series "Dark Shadows." Lela went on to help direct the ABC television series "Ryan's Hope." Lela died at the age of 96 years in August of 2015. Lela's husband Guilbert Schwartz died at the first part of 2015; both are survived by two sons, Stuart Schwartz and Russell Schwartz; five grandchildren; and a brother, Seymour Swift.
