Edwin Newman Dies at Age 91 From Pneumonia

by Amy Judd | September 15, 2010 at 01:32 pm

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Edwin Newman, Famous Journalist, Died at the Age of 91 on August 13

His family wanted to give themselves time to grieve and mourn so they delayed the news of his death, but Edwin Newman, known for his work on NBC, died about one month ago in Oxford England. Mr. Newman and his wife moved there in 2007.

Mr. Newman, recognizable for his balding head and fierce dark eyebrows, was known to three decades of postwar television viewers for his erudition, droll wit and seemingly limitless penchant for puns.

According to the New York Times, Edwin Newman started his career with NBC in the 1950s and eventually retired in 1984. He even anchored the Today show in the early 1960s and he made regular appearances on a show called Meet the Press. He was also the host of the program Speaking Freely on WNBC-TV and won seven New York Emmys over the course of his career.

He also moderated two presidential debates — the first Ford-Carter debate in 1976 and the second Reagan-Mondale debate in 1984 — and covered some of the signal events of the 20th century, from the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

NBC's Brian Williams praised Edwin Newman, saying that when he was on TV it made everyone at home feel like they had a 'classy friend' in the news business.

Mr. Newman had a long and impressive career starting in the University of Wisconsin's campus newspaper in the 1930s. He first worked as a 'dictation boy' for the International News Service, then moved on to United Press, then the New York newspaper PM and the Tufty News Service. He then joined CBS in 1947 before moving to NBC after some freelance work in London in 1952.

Mr. Newman helped cover numerous historic events, among them the shootings of Robert F. Kennedy, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., George Wallace and Ronald Reagan. He announced the death of President John F. Kennedy on NBC radio.