Some sad news to report from CBS this week: Producer Katherine “Katy” Textor passed away at the age of 45 from cancer on June 14th, 2019 at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan. She was best known for her collaboration with Morley Safer on nearly all of his reports from 2004 until his retirement in 2016. (Deadline)
Textor began her time at CBS in 2003. She was previously a producer for the White House at ABC News, worked for their documentary department, and reported on the Bush-Gore 2000 presidential race.
Her dedication to Safer’s work kept him on air until shortly before his death. Over the 12 years she’d worked for him, she helped produce many high profile features and investigations. The most notable of those was the first interview with Ruth Madoff in 2011, 3 years after her husband Bernie was arrested for turning his wealth management business into a Ponzi scheme.
Other memorable stories include the investigation of Dr. Ann Pou who was accused of administering lethal injections to patients during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a story on the discovery of a billion-dollar art hoard in the apartment of Adolf Hilter’s art dealers, and the Theranos blood-testing machine fraud.
Textor is survived by her husband Colin Farmer and two children, Riley and Will. She is also survived by her parents, brothers and their families.
Her memorial service was held on June 20 at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in Manhattan.
Tin Shingle has updated our Media Contact Idea Center to reflect this. Her name remains in the list for those looking to pitch her but did not know about her passing. Bless.