Friday, July 17, 2009

Director's Alert: Walter Cronkite Passes Away At Age 92

Veteran newsman Walter Cronkite has died at the age of 92 this evening at 7:42 p.m. after a long illness with his family by his side.

It was reported in mid-June that the legendary CBS newsman was "gravely ill."

Cronkite is best remembered for his signature sign-off, "And that's the way it is," that made its way into the homes across America every night when he was anchorman on the CBS Evening News from 1962 to 1981.

He grew up in Missouri and Texas before dropping out of college to take a job covering sports at a newspaper.

He went on to work in radio and was eventually discovered by Edward R. Murrow, who brought him on at CBS.

Cronkite succeeded Douglas Edwards as anchorman of the CBS Evening News on April 16, 1962, a job in which he became an American icon. The program expanded from 15 to 30 minutes on Sept. 2, 1963, making Cronkite the anchor of American network television's first nightly half-hour news program.

Most say that Cronkite's most memorable moment at CBS was his on-air reporting of the assassination of President Kennedy in 1962, a moment that showed to perfection the straightforward, calming presence that America had come to know.

He was known in viewer polls as "the most trusted man in America."

Source: wkyc.com