Joseph Di Palma, a producer and longtime sponsor of the syndicated program Nightly Business Report, died March 4 of pneumonia at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, his wife, Joycelyn Engle, announced. He was 94.
Di Palma produced such features as The Innocent and the Damned (2005), Amazing Racer (2009) — also known as Shannon’s Rainbow — and Awakened (2013).
He also was behind The Di Palma Forum, a four-year celebrity interview TV series that benefited the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. It featured high-profile guests discussing national issues.
He sponsored the Nightly Business Report, which was syndicated by American Public Television, for a decade.
Di Palma was born on Jan. 17, 1931, in New York and raised in Forest Hills Gardens. His parents were Gaetano Di Palma, a civil engineer who built the Italian Pavilion at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York, and Michela May Ambrosio Di Palma.
He earned a B.A. from Columbia University in 1952 and, following his service in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, graduated with a law degree from Fordham University in 1958. A year later, he got his master of laws degree in taxation at NYU.
His legal career included service as a tax attorney for CBS from 1960-64 and as staff vice president of taxes for TWA from 1964-74. While at the airline, he chaired the International Air Transport Association’s Taxation Sub-Committee.
Also known as Count Joseph Di Palma, he was executive director of The Di Palma Family Holdings, which specialized in real estate and stock investments while pursuing philanthropic initiatives, and the founder of The Di Palma Position Papers, a nonprofit editorial think tank that analyzed economic and social issues.
He also established The Di Palma Center for the Study of Jewelry and Precious Metals at the Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York, reflecting his dedication to education and cultural preservation.
He received a lifetime achievement honor from Marquis Who’s Who and a Public Spirit Award from PBS and was invited to the White House by Laura Bush.
Di Palma and Engle, a producer, actress and talent manager, were married for 54 years. He also is survived by his daughters, Joycelyn Joan (a TV producer) and Julianne Michelle (an actress); his grandchildren, Avalynn, Edward and Bailey; his sister, Flora; and his niece, Michelle.