Suzanne F. Roberts, philanthropist, performer, and broadcaster, dies at 98

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

https://www.inquirer.com/obituaries...-comcast-philanthropist-actress-20200420.html

Suzanne F. Roberts was also the heir of the Comcast fortune.

As a media host, Mrs. Roberts performed on the award-winning radio show Within Our Gates on WFIL, dramatizing the lives of outstanding citizens such as first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and abolitionist Lucretia Mott.

As a voice actress, she played roles in a CBS show, A Dramatization of the Classics, and described news events in the weekly show This Week in Philadelphia. Afterward, NBC named her the “Number One Radio Actress in Philadelphia.”

Her radio work led Mayor Richardson Dilworth and U.S. Sen. Joseph Clark to invite her to write and direct their radio and TV campaigns. Mrs. Roberts thus became a pioneer in modern media. In 1952, she turned her experience into one of the first books on the subject, The Candidate and Television.

“She was way ahead of her time,” said her son, the chairman and chief executive of Comcast.

Appearing in commercials for products ranging from refrigerators to children’s furniture, Mrs. Roberts was a frequent presence on local TV. Her biggest success came in 2001 when, at age 80, sensing a lack of programming for seniors, she started five-minute segments called Seeking Solutions With Suzanne. They aired on Comcast’s channel CN8 and CNN Headline News for almost two decades.