Sidney Galanty, Longtime Palisadian, Dies at 81

Sidney Galanty, renowned television director and political media consultant, passed away on October 5 at his home in Pacific Palisades. He was 81.

Born in 1932 in Newark, New Jersey, Sidney and his wife Joan married in 1954 and moved to Los Angeles in 1966. Having worked with President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Hubert Humphrey handling television media and then with Edward R. Murrow at the U.S. Information Agency, Sidney was recruited to join an ad agency in Los Angeles.

Earl Lachman personally sold Sidney and Joan one of his newly constructed homes in a development called Marquez Knolls in 1966. The housing market was in a slump and few houses were selling, so Earl encouraged the Galantys to rent-to-buy one of his homes. They were offered a choice of floor plans and any lot. They chose one that was then at the very top of the eponymous Lachman Lane where the street ended and there was a gate.  Beyond the gate were mountains, a large stable for horses, and the famous water tower that allowed for this unique hillside development to exist. Here they found great happiness and joy.

Sidney was perhaps most noted as the co-creator and producer of the “Jane Fonda Workout”–the best-selling home video series that started a global trend of fitness and exercise as well as the home video industry.

Sidney created and consulted on communications and television programming for the JFK administration, the international ad agency Dancer, Fitzgerald & Sample, and a long list of presidential candidates, members of the U.S. Congress, governors and other elected officials, as well as Harold Washington’s first successful mayoral campaign in Chicago. Sidney worked closely with the White House and was involved in public service campaigns for a variety of government agencies.

He was actively involved with helping to pass initiatives in California including the Coastal Act, the Tobacco Tax, the protection of California’s redwoods, and the first nuclear power plant closure (Rancho Sacco in Sacramento), to name a few successful state-wide initiatives.

In recent years, Sidney expanded his work internationally, consulting in Great Britain, Lithuania, Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, Macedonia and Russia. He continued his dedication to the electoral process, helping developing democracies in Eastern Europe with independent communications, media and broadcasting.

A member of the Directors Guild of America, Sidney was received prestigious awards such as CLIO, Billboard, Pollie, the London International Advertising Award, and the Cannes Film Festival Award.

At home, he served with distinction on the Board of Directors of the Marquez Knolls Property Owners Association.

Sidney was predeceased by his wife in 2008. He is survived by his son, Mark of Culver City; his and daughter, Beth of Santa Monica; and six grandchildren: Matthew, Liam, Evan, Melissa, Jack and Emma.