Hugh Downs, famed “Today” Show anchor and broadcaster has died at 99.
Downs passed away on Wednesday at his home Scottsdale, Arizona, his family confirmed to NBC News on Thursday.
Downs was born in 1921 in Akron, Ohio, and began his career at NBC in Chicago after serving in the Army and became a well-known name in America. Downs served as a “Today” show anchor for nine years from 1962 to 1971 and covered some of the biggest stories in American history, including the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and President John F. Kennedy. He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 1970 for his work on “Today” and was nominated for 5 Daytime Emmy Awards through his career, which resulted in wins in 1991 for his work on “Live From Lincoln Center” and “in 1981 for his work on “Over Easy.”
One of Downs’ first producers was actually none other than broadcast veteran, Barbara Walters. The pair worked together when Downs joined ABC’s “20/20” from 1978 to 1999. He stayed at “20/20” until he retired from broadcast.
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According to NBC News, in the 1950s and 1960s, Downs helped shape some of the most famous programs in the network’s history. He helped establish “The Tonight Show” franchise with Jack Parr in 1957, a show now hosted by Jimmy Fallon more than 60 years later. Almost simultaneously with his run on “Today,” Downs also hosted an NBC game show called “Concentration” from 1958 to 1969, a memory game where contestants tried to find matching pairs of cards on a game board.
Downs was also well known for his work from 1990-1997 in the “Live from Lincoln Center” program where he was a host.
RIP Hugh Downs.