Jim Hartz, an NBC news correspondent, and host who co-hosted Today with Barbara Walters in the 1970s died on April 17, according to The New York Times. He was 82 years old. The Times reported that Harz’s cause of death was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Who was Jim Hartz? (Wiki, Age, Bio)
Jim Hartz was born on February 3, 1930, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Hartz attended the University of Tulsa with the intention of going to medical school before switching to journalism in his freshman year. After graduation, he became a reporter for a local radio station in Tulsa and hosted their morning show before being promoted to director of news at age 24.
According to the Times, when Jim was hired by NBC, he became the youngest correspondent ever hired by the network. In his ten years as New York City host, he covered local and national stories, including the funeral of Robert F. Kennedy and the Watergate scandal.
Jim Hartz Dead
When did Jim Hartz start working for Today?
Jim was 34 when he began working for Today, taking over from host Frank McGee in 1974 and winning the job from seasoned personalities Tom Snyder and Tom Brokaw. Although Jim hosted Today for only two years, his reporting included important historical moments such as the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon, the end of the Vietnam War, and America’s Bicentennial.
After Walters left in 1976, the network brought in Brokaw as an anchor, and Hartz was moved to a position where he reported for Today from around the country, when his time with NBC ended, Jim worked with PBS, co-hosting the celebrity talk show Over Easy with actress Mary Martin and a weekly science show called Innovation. His partnership with PBS continued into the early 90s as host of Asia Now, a co-production with a news station from Tokyo.
Jim is survived by his second wife, Alexandra Dixon, and two daughters, Nancy Hartz Cole and Jana Hartz Maher, as well as six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. In 2015, Hartz’s son, John Mitchell Hartz, predeceased him at age 52.
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