JUST IN: Broadcasting icon Hugh Downs has died at age 99, his family says.
One of Downs’ first producers has also become a household name in America: Barbara Walters. The duo worked together again years later when Downs joined her on ABC’s “20/20” in 1978, where Downs remained until his 1999 retirement from broadcast.
Walters and Downs were briefly reunited in Studio 1A at Rockefeller Center in 2012 for the 60th anniversary of “Today.” In the 1950s and 1960s, Downs had a hand in some of the programs that have transformed NBC and worked to shape the network's history. He helped launch “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.has a page dedicated to Downs, where it says Down personifies the school’s mission with his “nuanced understanding of human communication across a wide array of contexts.”
“We in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication feel very fortunate that Mr. Downs was generous enough to share his name with our school,” the website says.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Legendary '20/20' Broadcaster Hugh Downs Dead at 99Legendary broadcaster Hugh Downs is dead at 99.
Read more »
Hugh Downs, Longtime Host of '20/20' and the 'Today' Show, Dies at 99Hugh Downs, the congenial broadcaster whose thousands of hours on network television included two decades on the ABC primetime newsmagazine 20/20 and nine years as the head man on NBC’s Today show, has died
Read more »
Veteran 'Today' show, '20/20' newscaster Hugh Downs dies at 99: reportsHugh Downs, whose smooth delivery and warm demeanor led to a seven-decade career in television news and talk, died
Read more »
Veteran 'Today' show, '20/20' newscaster Hugh Downs dies at 99: reportsHugh Downs, whose smooth delivery and warm demeanor led to a seven-decade career in television news and talk, died
Read more »
Hugh Downs, Longtime Host of '20/20' and the 'Today' Show, Dies at 99Hugh Downs, the congenial broadcaster whose thousands of hours on network television included two decades on the ABC primetime newsmagazine 20/20 and nine years as the head man on NBC’s Today show, has died
Read more »
Legendary '20/20' Broadcaster Hugh Downs Dead at 99Legendary broadcaster Hugh Downs is dead at 99.
Read more »