Media mogul Rupert Murdoch and five other celebrities have been inducted into the U.S. Television Academy's hall of fame in a suburban Beverly Wilshire hotel on Tuesday. The Age reports that in addition to Murdoch, talk show host Jay Leno, actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus, writer-producer David E. Kelley, ABC executive Brandon Stoddard and the late audio pioneer Ray Milton Dolby (posthumously) will be bestowed with the honor.
Making an announcement in this regard in December, Academy chairman Brue Rosemblum issued a press statement saying, "All of them have made a profound impact on the landscape of television, leaving their own mark within our industry and with audiences around the world."
The release added, ''Their groundbreaking contributions will last for generations, making them true icons who could not be more deserving of the Television Academy's highest honor.''
It further stated that by creating Fox, 82-year-old Murdoch has ''revolutionized the television landscape with groundbreaking shows such as The Simpsons, The X-Files and American Idol''. He also created the controversial cable news channel Fox News, with the incredibly accurate slogan, ''Fair and balanced''.
Fifty-three-year-old Louis-Dreyfusis an American actress, comedian and producer, best known for her television work on Seinfeld, The New Adventures of Old Christine, and her current series Veep.
Leno is a comedian, actor, voice actor, writer, producer and television host and hosted NBC's The Tonight Show from 1992 to 2009. He started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights on NBC since Sep. Jay Leno Show was canceled in January 2010 amid a host controversy, Leno returned to host The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on March 1, 2010 and his last episode of the show on Feb. 6, 2014.
Dolby was an engineer and inventor of the noise reduction system known as Dolby NR. He helped develop the video tape recorder while at Ampex and was the founder of Dolby Laboratories.
