Roger Grimsby
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Roger Grimsby
Biography
In his way, New York City television anchor man Roger Grimsby was a pioneer of broadcast news. Along with fellow groundbreakers Geraldo Rivera, Howard Cosell and gossip columnist Rona Barret, Grimbsy helped usher in the era of "happy talk" during Eyewitness News broadcasts. The term "happy talk" refers to a friendly chattiness and joshing camaraderie affected by the news team on air and is designed to lighten up the often depressing nature of newscasts. Grimsby, with his sharp, sly wit and deadpan demeanor took such talk to a new level. He was famous for not concealing his contempt for certain colleagues. Over his 40-year career as a television journalist, spending the latter half of it in New York City, he also worked in San Diego and San Francisco. At the peak of his popularity, Grimsby occasionally cameoed in feature films such as Bananas (1971) and Ghostbusters (1984). ~ Sandra Brennan, RoviRelated Videos:
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Roger Grimsby
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Roger Grimsby
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Roger Grimsby
| Roger Grimsby | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 23, 1928 Duluth, Minnesota |
| Died | June 23, 1995 (aged 66) New York, New York |
| Education | St. Olaf College, Columbia University |
| Occupation | Journalist, Television News Anchor, and Actor |
| Spouse | Maria Grimsby |
| Children | Daughter, Karen |
Roger Grimsby (September 23, 1928 – June 23, 1995) was an American journalist, television news anchor and actor. Grimsby is known as one of the pioneers of local television broadcast news.
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Early life
Roger Grimsby was an orphan who was born and raised in Duluth, Minnesota, by a Lutheran minister. After graduating from Denfeld High School in 1946, he attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, before studying history at Columbia University in New York. Grimsby was a U.S. Army veteran who was stationed in Germany before serving in the Korean War. It was during his stint in the Army that the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) sparked his interest in news broadcasting.
Career
Grimsby returned to his native Duluth, Minnesota, where he began his anchoring career in 1954, serving as an announcer for WEBC Radio. Shortly thereafter, he decided to switch to the growing medium of television, working as a correspondent and news director at various television stations around Minnesota and Wisconsin, including WEAU-TV Eau Claire, WISC-TV Madison, and WXIX-TV (now WVTV) Milwaukee. He then spent two years (1959–1961) at KMOX (now KMOV) in St. Louis, before becoming the anchor and news director at ABC-owned KGO-TV in San Francisco, in 1961. He then moved to New York City's WABC-TV in 1968, where he was co-anchor on Eyewitness News alongside Tom Dunn from 1968 through 1970, and then Bill Beutel from 1970 to 1986. He won six Emmy Awards at WABC-TV before he left that station in 1986 to join WNBC-TV. After two years at WNBC, he relocated to San Diego where he was anchor for KUSI news, before going into semi-retirement in 1990.
Grimsby's departure from WABC was a rather acrimonious one. After his departure in 1986 (in an incident recounted by several of his colleagues, including Tom Snyder who reported the incident on The Late Late Show soon after Grimsby's death[1]), ABC decided to retaliate against Grimsby by buying a building across the street from WABC's studio in upper Manhattan where three bars he used to frequent regularly were housed, and closed the bars shortly thereafter.
Other career notes
For some time while anchoring at WABC, Grimsby also moonlighted as a reporter for the ABC Radio Network. During this time, Grimsby would serve as a newsreader for the network's five-minute national news updates in the 3:00 PM hour every afternoon, choosing which stories he would report and writing the reports himself. Grimsby, in a 1982 interview with then-colleague John Slattery, called it "one of the best kept secrets in broadcasting." (Outtakes from Slattery's report later aired as part of Tom Snyder's tribute to Grimsby following his death.)
Grimsby was known for beginning his broadcasts with the phrase "Good evening, I'm Roger Grimsby; here[2] now the news," and ending them with the phrase "Hoping your news is good news, I'm Roger Grimsby." Chevy Chase later parodied the opening line on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update segment with his catchphrase, "Good evening, I'm Chevy Chase and you're not."
Grimsby could be rather funny, himself. His humor was off-the-cuff, often with the typical journalist's sarcastic tone. One famous remark, widely circulated on an industry outtake reel, came after a studio wide-shot caught colleague Mara Wolynski using an extended middle finger as she finished an argument with someone off-screen before her story was introduced on the 5 o'clock edition. At the end of the 6 o'clock edition, Grimsby, with a straight face, looked into the camera and quipped, "Well . . . as Mara Wolynski would say -- 'We're number one.'" The incident is saved on this youtube video which has been circulated amongst TV stations around the country for years.
His on-air feuds with fellow "Eyewitness News" team members, including Howard Cosell, Geraldo Rivera and gossip columnist Rona Barrett (whom he openly called "Rona Rooter") were legendary. He once segued into a Barrett report after a story about garbage by saying "Speaking of Garbage." However, the fact he remained an anchorman for 18 years in the nation's largest television market was a testimony to his journalistic skill and unique delivery.
He often appeared in films, usually playing himself as an anchorman, in such movies as Bananas, The Exterminator, Ghostbusters, Turk 182, and Nothing but Trouble.
Death
Roger Grimsby died on June 23, 1995, in New York City of lung cancer, at the age of 66.
Footnotes
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbwsJp8Mpro
- ^ It was never clear whether Grimsby said "hear" or "here" while beginning the broadcast.
External links
- Roger Grimsby at the Internet Movie Database
- UHF Nocturne - print ads for KGO featuring Roger Grimsby
- Broadcast legends - Roger Grimsby Biography
- Carter, Bill, "Obituary: Roger Grimsby, 66, Anchor And Initiator of 'Happy Talk'", The New York Times, June 24, 1995
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
