David Sarnoff - Family Life

Family Life

On July 4, 1917, Sarnoff married Lizette Hermant, the daughter of a French immigrant family who settled in the Bronx. It was Sarnoff's good luck that the Hermants just happened to become one of his mother's neighbors. This 54-year marriage is said to have been the bedrock of his life. Mrs. Sarnoff soon learned that, in addition to a wife's more conventional roles, she also became the first person to hear her husband's new ideas as radio and television became integral to American home life.

The couple had three sons: Robert W. Sarnoff, Edward Sarnoff, and Thomas W. Sarnoff. Robert succeeded his father as RCA's Chairman in 1971; and the youngest of these sons, Thomas, became NBC West Coast President.

Sarnoff was the maternal uncle of screenwriter Richard Baer. Sarnoff is credited with sparking Baer's interest in television, as well as kick starting his career. According to Baer's 2005 autobiography, Sarnoff called a vice president at NBC at 6 A.M. and ordered him to find Baer "a job by 9 o'clock" that same morning. The NBC vice president complied with Sarnoff's request. Baer was hired as an assistant on the William Bendix sitcom, The Life of Riley, in 1953. Baer went on to write for more than 56 television series during his career.

David Sarnoff's first cousin was Eugene Lyons, U.S. journalist and writer. Lyons wrote a biography of Sarnoff.