Charles Osgood, the former host of “CBS Sunday Morning” and a fixture for decades on network radio, died Tuesday, Jan 23., at his home in New Jersey, CBS reports. He was 91.
Osgood was best known for his 22-year run as host of “Sunday Morning” — a role he held from 1994 to 2016 — before retiring in 2017 at age 84. “Sunday Morning” won three daytime Emmy Awards for outstanding morning program during Osgood’s tenure with the show.
He was also one of CBS Radio Network’s most prominent voices. Osgood’s morning newscasts and regular commentary feature called “The Osgood File” were carried on stations across the country from 1971 to 2017. He also wrote and hosted a weekend series called “Newsmark,” a weekly CBS Radio public affairs broadcast.
“Charles Osgood was a true icon in the world of broadcasting,” said NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt in a statement on Tuesday. “His distinctive voice and unique storytelling ability made him a beloved figure in homes across America, particularly through his work on ‘CBS Sunday Morning.’ As an inductee of the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame, Charles’ contributions to radio and journalism were extraordinary, leaving an indelible mark on the industry.”
Born in the Bronx, Osgood attended St. Cecelia High School in Englewood, N.J., before earning his bachelor’s degree in economics at Fordham College at Rose Hill in 1954. While attending the university, Osgood found his niche at WFUV(FM), Fordham’s noncommercial radio station, “which served as much as a classroom for him as any other place on campus,” according to Fordham’s website.
Osgood was inducted into Fordham’s Hall of Honor in 2015, where he joined other distinguished broadcast alumni such as the late Vin Scully, the voice of the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers.
After his time at WFUV, Osgood joined classical music radio station WGMS in Washington, D.C., where at one time he was assigned to do a program that was piped into Dwight D. Eisenhower’s hospital room where the president was recovering from a heart attack. Osgood worked as a general assignment reporter for ABC News from 1963 to 1967, when he was named morning anchor and reporter for WCBS(AM) in New York. He joined CBS News in 1971.
Osgood was a three-time recipient of the George Foster Peabody Award and was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1990. He is the author and editor of several books including “See You on the Radio,” the line with which he closed his “Sunday Morning” broadcasts.
In addition to his many broadcast accolades, Osgood was a beloved musician both on and off the TV screen. According to CBS, he performed with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and played the piano and banjo with the New York Pops and Boston Pops Orchestras, as well as at the White House. In 1998, he joined a Japanese family bluegrass band in the city of Fukuoka to play “A Banjo on Their Knee.”
