William Huston Pope

Services will be held at 1:00 pm, Thursday, October 13 at Pierce Brothers Valhalla, 10621 Victory Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91606.

Bill was born October 28, 1935 in Elmira, NY to sportscaster Fred “Bill” Pope and Grace (Mossburg) Pope. He graduated from Horseheads High School in 1954. Soon after graduating, he married Florence Stephens and eventually moved south to Miami, FL, as a cameraman for a local TV station. In 1965 he relocated his wife and two young daughters to Burbank, CA, on the recommendation of a friend who said there were lots of jobs out in Hollywood. He was in the right place at the right time when he landed his first work in Binghamton, NY. This began his 30 year career with ABC, working on some of their most iconic shows. Bill worked with Regis Philbin on the Joey Bishop Show in the late sixties, Gabe Kaplan on Welcome Back Kotter in the seventies, Robert Guillaume on Benson in the eighties, and Ed O’Neil on Married with Children in the nineties. Other shows included Night Court, Fish, Growing Pains, The Newlywed Game, and General Hospital.

Bill was also an accomplished live action cameraman, honing his skills in the sixties and seventies on ABC’s Wide World of Sports. This led to him being selected for the most demanding positions in the industry, including several years as center camera for the Oscars (for which he won an Emmy in 1994) and Mary Lou Retton’s Gold Medal Vault at the 1984 Olympics (for which he won an Emmy in 1985) and the Primtime Emmy Awards (for which he won an Emmy in 1994).

Bill was an avid bowler, playing at the Picwick Bowl from the time he moved to Burbank until just a few years ago. He invented a game called Bascot (throwing a tape roll into a basket, much like horseshoes or corn roll) to pass the time while in between camera takes. He enjoyed playing cards, board games, softball and golf.

Bill’s first wife, Florence, passed away in 2000. He remarried in 2003 to Ellen Foley.

Bill is survived by his wife Ellen Foley Pope, his two daughters, Lynnette Karnes and Andrea Douglas, seven grandchildren (Trevor, Ashley, Kristy, Jason, Brooke, Alexandra and Rachael), 7 great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Fred and Sylvia, and his wife Florence (Stephens) Pope and his sister Patricia Bennett.

In lieu of flowers, please send any donations to Children’s Hospital.