Famed Pioneer Television Newscaster. His many awards include an Emmy and a Peabody. Attended Tulane University, and upon graduation in 1936, he began working as a foreign correspondent working for the United Press in Copenhagen and Berlin. In 1941, he joined CBS News under the tutelage of famed newscaster Edward R. Murrow, becoming one of "Murrow's Boys," and was the last journalist out of Berlin after war was declared. This served as a basis for his best selling 1942 book, "Last train from Berlin." He served as moderator of the first Kennedy-Nixon TV debate in 1960, which many consider to have given Kennedy the edge needed to win the Presidential election. In 1961, he joined ABC News, after a disagreement in news commentary with CBS over the civil rights movement. In 1969, he co-anchored with Frank Reynolds the "ABC Evening News" and was later joined by former-CBS colleague Harry Reasoner. In 1975, he gave up being co-anchor, but continued as a political commentator. In 1996, he published his autobiography "Events Leading Up to my Death: The Life of a Twentieth-Century Reporter." Cause of death: Congestive heart failure and pneumonia. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Benedicte Traberg Smith, a son and a daughter.
Famed Pioneer Television Newscaster. His many awards include an Emmy and a Peabody. Attended Tulane University, and upon graduation in 1936, he began working as a foreign correspondent working for the United Press in Copenhagen and Berlin. In 1941, he joined CBS News under the tutelage of famed newscaster Edward R. Murrow, becoming one of "Murrow's Boys," and was the last journalist out of Berlin after war was declared. This served as a basis for his best selling 1942 book, "Last train from Berlin." He served as moderator of the first Kennedy-Nixon TV debate in 1960, which many consider to have given Kennedy the edge needed to win the Presidential election. In 1961, he joined ABC News, after a disagreement in news commentary with CBS over the civil rights movement. In 1969, he co-anchored with Frank Reynolds the "ABC Evening News" and was later joined by former-CBS colleague Harry Reasoner. In 1975, he gave up being co-anchor, but continued as a political commentator. In 1996, he published his autobiography "Events Leading Up to my Death: The Life of a Twentieth-Century Reporter." Cause of death: Congestive heart failure and pneumonia. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Benedicte Traberg Smith, a son and a daughter.
Bio by: Kit and Morgan Benson
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