Dave Caldwell was an award winning producer and director of television programs. He directed the popular "Real People" TV show for NBC from 1981 to 1984, produced programs at KPIX-TV in San Francisco during the 1960's and 1970's and won an Emmy Award for his own production company's documentary "Rock Art Treasues of Ancient America."

"He was very creative, a real ideas person," said his wife Sally Caldwell. "He was always very cool under pressure, no matter how stressful the task or lack of sleep." "He was one of the few people I know who really loved his job, loved his work right from the beginning."

A native of San Jose and a U.S. Army veteran, Dave received a bachelor's degree in communications from Michigan State University in 1957 -- the same year he met Sally Capello and married her. He earned a master's degree in radio and television broadcasting from San Francisco State College two years later.

Dave started his career as a stage manager at KPIX in 1957 and soon was producing or directing a variety of programs or newscasts, including the Peabody award-winning "San Francisco Pageant," and "POW!", the Bay Area's first weekly entertainment magazine show.

From 1967 to 1970, Dave was a staff associate director for the NBC-TV network in Burbank where his credits included "The Andy Williams Show," "Hollywood Squares," "Days of Our Lives" and Bob Hope comedy specials.

He was handling network news bulletins at NBC in Burbank when Robert kennedy was assassinated in 1968, and in 1970 he was on the aircraft carrier Iwo Jima helping handle NBC broadcasts of the splashdown of the ill-fated Apollo 13 moon mission.

Dave returned to KPIX in 1970 to produce and direct the popular "Ron Magers' Electric Impressions." From 1980 to 1995, he ran his own production company, Dave Caldwell Productions Inc., which produced the ancient rock documentary as well as a host of other programs around the country. His directing credits in the 1980's and 1990's included the "World Professional Figure Skating Championship" for NBC and the "Goodwill Games" for Turner Sports in Moscow and Seattle. He retired in 1993 but still ran his production company part-time for two more years.

He was a member of the Director's Guild of America, the San Francisco/Northern California Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and Broadcast Legends, an organization of veteran industry figures.

Dave passed away on April 15, 2000 after a lenghty illness at the age of 66.