Edwin Newman facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Edwin Newman
Newman in 1975
Born	Edwin Harold Newman (1919-01-25)January 25, 1919 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	August 13, 2010(2010-08-13) (aged 91) Oxford, England
Education	University of Wisconsin (BA, 1940)
Occupation	Newscaster, journalist, author
Years active	1945–1984
Spouse(s)	Rigel Grell ​ (m. 1944)​
Children	Nancy

Edwin Harold Newman (born January 25, 1919 – died August 13, 2010) was a famous American newscaster, journalist, and writer. He started his career working for news agencies and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Later, he worked in radio for CBS News. He is best known for his 23 years in television news with the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), from 1961 to 1984.

Early Life and Education

Edwin Newman was born in New York City on January 25, 1919. His parents were Myron and Rose Newman. His older brother, M.W. Newman, also became a reporter. Edwin's grandparents had moved to the U.S. from Russia.

Edwin married Rigel Grell on August 14, 1944. They had one daughter named Nancy, who was born in 1945.

After finishing George Washington High School, Edwin went to the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He worked for the student newspaper, The Daily Cardinal. In 1940, he earned a degree in political science. He also studied American government briefly before starting his journalism career.

Career in Journalism

Starting Out (1940s)

Newman began his career working for news wire services. First, he worked for the International News Service. Then, he joined United Press. On December 7, 1941, the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor, he heard the news on the radio. He quickly went to work and helped report the big story for 12 hours.

He served in the United States Navy from 1942 to 1945. After the war, he returned to United Press as a reporter. From 1947 to 1949, he worked for CBS News radio.

Reporting Abroad (1950s)

From 1949 to 1952, Newman worked as a freelance journalist, often for NBC News. He wrote for different magazines. In 1952, he started working full-time for NBC. He covered many important events. These included the funeral of King George VI and Britain becoming a nuclear power. He also reported on the 1956 Suez Crisis.

Newman was also known for his fun and unusual stories. Once, he climbed a tree in Kensington Gardens dressed in a hunting outfit. He wanted to check a report about ducks nesting in trees!

He became an NBC bureau chief, first in Rome and then in Paris. He reported on major diplomatic and political news. This included the Cold War and the Algerian War. He also covered Charles de Gaulle becoming president of France in 1958. Newman received an award from France, the Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, for his reporting.

NBC News Star (1961–1984)

John Chancellor, Frank Blair and Edwin Newman on The Today Show, 1961

Between 1961 and 1984, Edwin Newman was a big part of many NBC programs. He was a regular on the Today show. He was its news anchor for a while and often a guest host. He also appeared frequently on Meet the Press, where he was a panelist and moderator.

From 1960 to 1984, Newman played a key role in NBC's coverage of political conventions. These were big events where the Republican and Democratic parties chose their candidates. In 1964 and 1968, he and three other reporters were called "The Four Horsemen." They used special backpacks to report live from the convention floor.

Newman was excellent at reporting breaking news. In 1963, he was the first to announce on NBC Radio that President John F. Kennedy had died. He also anchored TV coverage of the 1967 Six-Day Arab-Israeli War. He covered the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy in 1968. In 1981, he anchored NBC's coverage right after the attempt to assassinate President Ronald Reagan.

He was the only radio journalist to interview Emperor Hirohito of Japan. This happened in 1975. Newman also hosted a show called Speaking Freely. On this show, he interviewed over 250 important people. These included director Ingmar Bergman, boxer Muhammad Ali, and Israeli prime ministers David Ben-Gurion and Golda Meir.

Newman moderated two important presidential debates. In 1976, he moderated the debate between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. In 1984, he moderated the debate between Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale. He was known for his calm and polite manner during these events.

He also worked on many documentaries for NBC. These included films about kidney dialysis, pensions, and violence in America.

Other Interesting Work

Newman loved music and hosted summer concerts for the Boston Symphony. He also worked as a Broadway drama critic from 1965 to 1971. He enjoyed sports, especially baseball and boxing.

In 1980, he gave news updates on The David Letterman Show. He even hosted Saturday Night Live twice, becoming the first network news anchor to do so. During one show, he sang a song, which the audience loved!

After NBC (1984 and Beyond)

After leaving NBC in 1984, Edwin Newman was still very busy. He was a popular interviewer, narrator, and moderator. He worked on many programs for PBS and other TV networks. One series he cared about was Congress: We the People.

He also narrated a series about the restoration of Michelangelo's paintings in the Sistine Chapel. In 1988, he hosted a PBS documentary about the history of television. Newman also appeared as himself in movies like The Pelican Brief and Spies Like Us. He was also in TV shows like Newhart and The Golden Girls. He often gave talks about the English language and the news business.

Final Years

Edwin Newman spent his last years quietly. In 2007, he and his wife moved to England to be closer to their daughter. He passed away from pneumonia in Oxford on August 13, 2010. His family waited a month to announce his death, allowing them time to grieve privately.

Humor and Books

Newman was known for being both serious and funny. For a 1964 documentary, he traveled on the Orient Express. He ended up in a bubble bath in Istanbul! He also loved puns. On The Today Show, he would end his yearly poem with "Happy Noo Year to Yoose from Edwin Newman NBC Noose."

He sometimes played pranks, like putting a whoopie cushion on a colleague's chair. When he hosted Saturday Night Live, he sang "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone" during his opening speech. He also anchored a fake news show called Saturday Night News on the program.

In 1974, Newman's first book, Strictly Speaking: Will America be the Death of English?, became a #1 bestseller. He wrote other books too, including A Civil Tongue (1976) and I Must Say (1988). These books often talked about U.S. politics, his journalism, and the English language. He also helped with the usage panel for the American Heritage Dictionary.

Filmography