George Maksian Dies: TV And Film Columnist At NY Daily News Was 94

Bruce Haring
·1-min read
George Maksian Dies: TV And Film Columnist At NY Daily News Was 94

George Maksian, who spent 44 years as a film and TV columnist for the New York Daily News at a time when it had the largest circulation in the U.S., died at 94 on May 23. No cause was given.

Working out of the newspaper’s former home on E. 42nd St. in Manhattan, Maksian covered the celebrity beat and was widely syndicated.

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His interview list included Ed Sullivan, Howard Stern, Johnny Carson, Barbara Walters, David Letterman and Bette Midler.

But Maksian held a special reverence for Mike Connors of TV’s Mannix, a fellow Armenian-American. Both were born of parents who escaped the Armenian genocide.

Maksian once said sportscaster Howard Cosell wrote a four-page letter to the editors complaining about his boxing coverage.

Maksian reported that Cosell had complained about being forced by ABC to continue covering boxing, objecting to the brutality. But Maksian found out that Cosell’s contract allowed him to turn down any assignment, thus making Cosell appear to be a hypocrite.

After graduating from Manhattan’s High School of Commerce, Maksian got a job as a copy boy at the Daily News for $18 a week. He worked the job while he studied at City College and New York University.

From there, he  worked his way up to becoming a general reporter and then a columnist.

Maksian’s funeral will be held at 10 a.m. June 6 at St. Thomas Armenian church in Tenafly, N.J.

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