Christopher Eric Speeth

Christopher Speeth, an educator, filmmaker and IT expert, died April 20 in Philadelphia.

He was 78 years old.

Speeth grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, one of four sons of Cuyahoga County Commissioner,

Henry Speeth, and Nada Checie. He studied violin under Josef Gingold and was

concertmaster of the Cleveland Youth Orchestra. As a child actor, he performed in stage

productions at the Cleveland Playhouse and on the radio. As a high school student, he

built a symbolic logic computer from scratch, winning third place at the National Science

Fair. Speeth earned a Bachelor of Mathematics from Kenyon College (’60) and a

Master’s degree from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of

Pennsylvania (’68) where he studied documentary film under Sol Worth.

Speeth’s early career focused on primary school education. He worked with Jerome

Bruner at Harvard to develop stimulating educational materials. He later taught 5th grade

at the Chester A. Arthur School in South Philadelphia. He founded and directed the

Philadelphia Theater for Children, which eventually found a home at the Friends

Neighborhood Guild. The program introduced children from deeply underserved

Philadelphia communities to some of the great works of Western civilization and

attracted a staff of dedicated professionals from all walks of life. Under Speeth’s

direction, the children performed productions of Shakespeare, Molière, Sophocles,

Ionesco and Beckett. The program led to and influenced similar efforts in New Haven

and New York.

After receiving his MA, Speeth made various documentary films on Philadelphia

architects and artists, peace marches, science and healthcare issues. He also directed one

feature-length horror movie, Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood, filmed largely on the

abandoned grounds of Willow Grove Amusement Park. The cast ranged from Fantasy

Island star Hervé de Villechaize to a handful of student extras paid in doughnuts. He was

the director and photographer of Eakins, a documentary about the life and work of

Philadelphia artist Thomas Eakins, for the Dietrich Foundation. The film received first

place at the Festival dei Popoli in Florence.

Throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s, Speeth did technical and consulting work on a

freelance basis, coordinating the multimedia show for the Bicentennial Wagon Train at

Valley Forge, and creating the sound effects for the Philadelphia Zoo’s Treehouse. He

spent the last years of his working life as an IT consultant for the Internal Revenue

Service.

After retiring from the IRS, Speeth began editing his original interview footage of

computer pioneers John Mauchley, Herman Goldstine, and J. Presper Eckert. His plan

was to produce a film about the ENIAC computer. He also was a consultant for the

Elfenworks Foundation in San Mateo, CA.

He is survived by a wife, a brother, a daughter and a grandson.

A gathering will be held in celebration of his life from 2- 4 on Saturday, September 23,

on the grounds of Historic Wyck House in the Germantown section of Philadelphia.