Man Who Saved Obama's Political Career Passes Away

The flag at the White House must be flying at half-mast today as the man credited with saving the career of President Barack Obama passed away. No I am not talking about Bill Ayers or Jeremiah Wright they just shaped the future president's politics, this person was much more important, Hubert Schlafly. a key member of the team that invented the teleprompter, affectionately known in the White House as the TOTUS.

Hubert Schlafly Jr died last week in the US state of Connecticut after a brief illness, according the funeral home that handled the arrangements. His funeral was held on Tuesday in town of Greenwich, where he lived.

Schlafly was working at 20th Century Fox film studios in 1950 when he developed the teleprompter.

He had been asked by the company to build a device that would help actors remember their lines.

Schlafly's prototype teleprompter, which debuted on the set of a US soap opera, was placed beside a film camera and used a motorised scroll of paper inside a suitcase to assist the show's actors.

The device was soon adopted by politicians and was used at the Republican Party's national convention by former US President Herbert Hoover in 1952. It has been employed by every US president since that time.'Most innovative engineer'

Schlafly helped to start TelePrompTer Corp and eventually became the company's president, accepting an Emmy Award on its behalf in 1999.