2021 Chicago Silver Circle Honors Program Book

RICHARD BERNAL
Richard Bernal is a lifelong Chicagoan, born on the Southside,
the youngest of 12 in an immigrant Mexican family. He
attended Chicago public schools, graduating from West
Pullman Elementary and Morgan Park High. In 1948, the
Bernal house was the first in the neighborhood to get a TV set.
Chicago broadcasting would become a steady influence
throughout his youth.
As a boy, Richard developed a serious interest in photography
and cinematography. He was a photographer for the high
school student newspaper and yearbooks and thought that photography might be his life’s
work. But a high school field trip to the WBBM-TV studios sparked the idea of possibly
becoming a TV cameraman.
With a TV career as motivation, Richard went to college, first at Wilson Junior College in
Chicago, then finishing at the University of Illinois in Champaign. His camera abilities got him
his first paying job in television at WILL-TV, the university’s PBS station. Fun Fact: Richard’s
first ever TV Election Night was the 1960 JFK/Nixon Presidential Election. Richard was the
first in his family to graduate college. In 1962, he received a B.S. Degree in Journalism &
Communications from the University of Illinois. He considers that his most significant
personal achievement.
Richard served his military obligation as a TV Production Specialist, including a year at the
American Forces Korea Network, directing live TV programs for American troops in South
Korea. He was discharged in 1965, just as the Field newspapers publisher was planning to
start a brand new TV station in Chicago, WFLD, Channel 32. He landed an interview with
Chicago TV legend Sterling “Red” Quinlan and was hired to work in the first crew of “Creative
Assistants” who got the station up and running. On the very first night that Channel 32 went
on the air, Richard was in the room where it happened. Once in the directing rotation,
Richard helmed a wide variety of shows including BJ & Dirty Dragon with Bill Jackson, and
Screaming Yellow Theater hosted by the original “Svengoolie”, Jerry G. Bishop.
In 1971, Richard moved to CBS, WBBM-TV as a staff director. During his 33 years at Channel
2, his assignments ranged from daily programming like the Lee Philip Show, the news with
Bill Kurtis & Walter Jacobson, the Chicago Bears coaches’ show with Mike Ditka to numerous
special projects. At WBBM-TV, he received three Chicago Emmy ® Awards, one for Individual
Achievement as a Director, and two as Director and Co-Producer for Best Children’s Series,
Magic Door. Richard was also the director of Lee Philips’ National Emmy ® award-winning
documentary, The Forgotten Children.
A third chapter in Richard’s Chicago TV History began in 1979 when he was invited to teach
at Columbia College Chicago. Richard’s career there spanned 40 years, offering his
knowledge of TV Directing and Production. Richard takes great pride in knowing that many
of his students are now successful figures in the industry, both in Chicago and around the
USA.