BURBANK, CA — Kenneth (Ken or Kenny) Stein, a veteran stage manager for major beauty pageants, awards shows and TV programs and specials, died Sept. 8, 2016. He was 74.
Stein, the son of a TV writer, got his first job as a production assistant for Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In. That led to roles as production supervisor and stage manager for various TV series episodes and game show broadcasts from the 1970s to recent years, stage managing the Grammy Awards, the Academy Awards, American Idol and The Tonight Show, among many other game shows, beauty pageants, reality TV programs and scripted TV series.
While stage-managing the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon, Stein met Ed McMahon, who brought him aboard for Star Search, which ran from 1983 to 1995. Beauty pageants were another mainstay in Stein’s career. His credits include the Miss USA, Miss Universe and Miss America pageants.
Profiled by the Directors Guild of America (DGA), which Stein joined in 1976, interviewer Dency Nelson noted that Stein, who enjoyed his role guiding the excited young contestants, “was given the nickname ‘Mr. White Gloves’ by contestants and crewmembers alike for wearing bright white gloves while orchestrating the various stage movements during a pageant production.”
(To view Nelson’s interview of Stein, who shares insights on the stage manager’s craft, go to http://www.dga.org/Craft/VisualHistory/Interviews/Ken-Stein.aspx).
Stein, who had been living in Burbank, will be buried alongside his wife, Marilyn, in Chicago.
