Fixreaders took a snap polland were highly skepticalwith 59% deeming that the anchor was indeed under the influence. And, certainly, a few lessons on life. Early on Aug. 2, 1981, a few months after she suffered a miscarriage, Miss Savitch returned from New York to find her husband hanging unconscious in the basement of their home.

Radio Work as a Student, Miss Savitch was born in 1947 in Kennett Square, Pa., daughter of Florence and David Savitch. Oct. 25, 1983 Jessica Savitch killed in car wreck By MARIANNE LAVELLE NEW HOPE, Pa. -- NBC newscaster Jessica Savitch, whose professional triumphs and

New Hope Police Chief Walter Everett said the two were last seen having dinner at the Chez Odette restaurant, about 35 miles northeast of Philadelphia, at about 7 p.m. EDT Sunday.

Savitch responded to these devastating events by requesting to be transferred to NBC's New York City bureau. "Rape: The Ultimate Violation," was influential for changing rape laws and won the 1974 Clarion Award from Women in Communications, Inc.

While a number of women gained national reputations as television reporters or newscasters, Miss Savitch was the first to serve regularly as an anchor for a major national network. Read more: And her success was hard-won: "First I got hit with 'You can't have the job because you're a woman,'" Savitch said. Copyright Statement, Legal ''The visibility was very poor.''

Despite accusations of lack of strength, Savitch completed the Philadelphia police training course. The place made national headlines in 1983 when NBC news anchor Jessica Savitch and Martin Fischbein, vice president of the New York Post, died in a car accident after dining there. A 1982 TV Guide poll named her the fourth most trusted news anchor in the country, above many of the most established male anchors of the period. She was a native of Kennett Square, near Philadelphia, and grew up in Margate N.J. She graduated from Ithaca College and went to work at WCBS Radio in New York in 1969. Jessica Beth Savitch was born February 1, 1947, in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.

", But there is more to come. She began to fill more roles in NBC's news programming, serving as a regular panel member on Meet The Press, contributing to the news magazine programs Prime Time Saturday and Prime Time Sunday, and contributing commentary to the NBC Radio Network.

While attending college, Savitch was faced with the first of many challenges that relate to a male-dominated field. After her death, her family filed an insurance suit against New York Post, who had insured the car Fischbein was driving at the time of their death. She is survived by her mother and two sisters, Lori and Stephanie Savitch of Margate, N.J. See the article in its original context from. Dick John, the manager who hired her, said he did so because he was impressed with her ambition as well as her copywriting and speaking skills. Up Close and Personal was originally intended as a biographical film about Savitch. Walter Everett, the New Hope police chief, said that the couple had driven the wrong way out of the parking lot of a restaurant, Chez Odette, where they had gone for dinner. Jessica Beth Savitch (February 1, 1947 October 23, 1983) was an American television journalist who was the weekend anchor of NBC Nightly News and daily newsreader for NBC News during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

A local resident found the wreck at about 11:30 that night. Nobody ever talked about her big heart, her loyalty, her sense of humor, and her fabulousness as a person.

By 1979 she was demoted from the Senate assignment due to poor performance.

"[17], On October 23, 1983, twenty days after her problematic NBC broadcast, Savitch had dinner with Martin Fischbein, vice president of the New York Post, at the Chez Odette restaurant in New Hope, Pennsylvania. While Miss Savitch attended Ithaca College in upstate New York, she worked as a disk jockey at radio station WBBF-AM in Rochester. Starting Monday she was to become anchor of 'NBC News Digest,' and in January she was to anchor the Sunday editions of 'Nightly News.'. [citation needed] Shortly before she left KYW, Savitch exploded in an angry tantrum during a commercial break because the pages of her news script had been provided out of order. The affair was broken off.

She substituted as anchor on the Today and Tomorrow shows. A feature film based on her life, starring Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer, is due in March. She also had served on its board of trustees.

Crim later admitted that he was initially "not nice to her" due to his own male chauvinism, but the two later became good friends.

Savitch and Fischbein were trapped inside as water poured in. She was 36 at the time of her death. On leaving, they apparently made a wrong turn from the parking lot onto a towpath that runs along the canal. Despite her lack of broadcast news experience, Savitch was hired by KHOU-TV in Houston as the station's first female reporter. Jessica Savitch lived a much too short and much too unhappy life. Drove Wrong Way. At the time KYW hired Savitch, it was under pressure from the Philadelphia chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) to place more women in then-non-traditional roles on the local news or else face a possible legal challenge to its broadcast license. Jessica Savitch, 35, an award-winning newswoman with the NBC network since 1977, drowned early yesterday after the car she was riding in plunged into the She was fired shortly after when she failed to turn off the stations transmitter after sign-off. He was a prominent figure in town.

Hollywood is readying "Up Close and Personal," a film originally inspired by the Savitch saga and written by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne. Jessica Savitch Professional life She was the eldest daughter of Florence (ne Goldberger), a navy nurse, and David Savitch, who ran a clothing store. Savitch was the network's second woman to anchor a weekend national newscast; Catherine Mackin had previously anchored NBC's Sunday evening newscast beginning in December 1976, before she left for ABC News the following year.

The film is also blessed with Sela Ward, of NBC's "Sisters," who gives a stunningly powerful performance as the bright young newswoman who vowed to be a network anchor by the age of 30 and died at 35. NBC News reporter and anchorwoman Jessica Savitch, 36, and New York Post executive Martin Fischbein, 34, died in a car accident in New Hope, Pennsylvania.

"On television, Jess was so much more than a reporter or anchor," says Paul Gluck, who worked with Savitch as a production assistant at KYW-TV in Philadelphia.

And she was no stranger to tragedy. In 1977, Jessica Savitch joined NBC News. Indeed, Savitch struck such a chord that Gwenda Blair's 1988 book Almost Golden: Jessica Savitch and the Selling of Television News was made into a 1995 Lifetime channel movie starring Sela Ward and Ron Silver.

Despite her local acclaim, Savitch aspired to leave local news and become a network correspondent. An NBC spokesman said the two were engaged. Martin attempted to exit the restaurant parking lot but, potentially due to a lack of visibility, overturned the car into the Delaware Canal. However, the plot of the movie was substantially changed to become a love story quite different from Savitch's life. The men who run the business wanted someone who looked and acted the part.

Jessica Savitch, 35, an award-winning newswoman with the NBC network since 1977, drowned early yesterday after the car she was riding in plunged into the Delaware Canal in New Hope, Pa., about 35 miles northeast of Philadelphia.

You are leaving AARP.org and going to the website of our trusted provider. Such a desire left her spending most of her free time at WOND. Her two marriages both end badly -- the first, to a worshipful businessman, in divorce; the second, to an emotionally disturbed celebrity doctor in Washington, in his suicide.

Finally, assigned to a nightly 43-second "NBC News Digest" report that aired during prime time, she showed up one night strung out and glassy-eyed, and badly fumbled on the air. In 1980, she was one of the twelve most popular speakers in the United States. As a result of her KYW work, Savitch became a local celebrity in Philadelphia and was sometimes mobbed walking down the street.

WHo was the TV female anchor died in car crash in 1980? Even at the outset she is demanding, temperamental, tightly wound and high-strung.

Savitch's distinctive delivery finds echoes today in the cadences of NBC stars such as Natalie Morales, Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb.

Savitch had tremendous charisma and class on the air. It ended in an auto accident 12 years ago, but she is still one of the most talked-about personalities

Although she was upset by his death, Savitch returned to her work at NBC three weeks later. Ms. Savitch, who rose to a $500,000-a-year job at NBC by the time she was 33, found her second husband, Dr. Donald Rollie Payne, hanged in the basement of their Washington home in August 1981. Was ABC'sDiane Sawyerdrunk on election night? The darkness will set them free: Yellowjackets prepares for 'intense' season 2. University Park, PA 16802-1812 Remembering Jessica Savitch, 30 Years After Her Death By Alissa Krinsky on Oct. 18, 2013 - 7:00 AM In the early 1980s, with cable in its infancy and network

In life, Savitch was renowned for her audience appeal and her skill as an on-camera news reader, although she drew criticism for her relative lack of journalism experience. Savitch often personalized her stories by becoming part of the story herself, such as completing the Philadelphia police academy training as part of a series on women in police work, and serving as an undercover decoy for two weeks as part of her series on rape. "Then I got hit with 'You only got the job because you're a woman.'" Her report on a train derailment and fire received national exposure on the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite. She was a victim, says Linda Ellerbee, her colleague at NBC.

In January 1983, in addition to her work for NBC, Savitch began hosting a new public affairs documentary program on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), Frontline. Watching her final broadcast before a car accident caused her death from drowning in 1983, it's hard not to suspect that she was on something. However, the marriage ended abruptly in divorce within the same year. Ellerbee said that a network vice president responded, "We're afraid to do anything.

Although Savitch biographer Gwenda Blair wrote that Savitch's poor performance on the October 3 segment effectively ended her network career,[8] a People magazine article published after her death said that her NBC contract had actually been renewed (although the renewal was for just one year rather than her previous three-year contracts), that she would have reclaimed a spot as a substitute Sunday anchor for NBC Nightly News in January 1984, and that she was set to appear on another season of Frontline. Yet almost everything Savitch appeared to be, she was not. But she knows what she wants and works hard to get it, studying tapes of herself on the air to perfect her delivery. Last week marked the 30-year anniversary of her tragic death in a car accident at the age of 35 (Jessica Savitch Remembered).

Her first marriage, to Mel Korn, a Philadelphia advertising executive, ended in divorce after less than one year. Savitch had style.

She graduated from Ithaca College in 1968. She continued as host until her death later that year, at which time Judy Woodruff took over as host.

Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker.

WebJessica Savitch. Following high school, Savitch attended Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York, as a communications major.

In order to counter criticism that she had been hired for her looks and promoted ahead of skilled journalists, NBC also assigned her to do reporting work, including a brief stint as U.S. Senate correspondent. Apparently, she was never told that such a task was part of her duties.

But when NBC hired her, she was sent to the Washington bureau and assigned to Congress, a beat for which she was hopelessly ill-prepared. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. Savitch told TODAY anchor Tom Brokaw that Election Day would see a loss of two to five seats for women in the next Congress a prediction that proved correct, as the 1978 elections reduced the number of women in Congress from 20 to 17. [29], Savitch's life was also examined in several television documentaries. The providers terms, conditions and policies apply. reserved.

Her father was of Slavic Jewish heritage and her maternal grandfather was of German and Russian Jewish heritage.

NBC's Jessica Savitch reports on the death of Princess Grace Kelly, following injuries sustained in a car accident in 1982.

Photo Credit: ova dey. SALON is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark of Salon.com, LLC. Savitch was one of the first women to anchor an evening network newscast solo, following in the footsteps of Marlene Sanders of ABC News and Catherine Mackin of NBC News. Herky-jerky camera work, jangled editing and a pretentiously morose solo piano score make the documentary hard to watch, yet worth the trouble.

Miss Savitch had suffered a number of personal misfortunes in recent years. She also had been a substitute anchor on NBC's "Today" and "Tomorrow" shows, and was a member of the panel of reporters on "Meet the Press.".

Unsurprisingly, her reps say no. The incident caused widespread speculation that she was abusing drugs. Kershaw, who died of cancer in 1988, was both guru and nemesis; he advised and shepherded Savitch over the years, but also physically abused her -- though this is reduced in the film to one punch and a black eye. She also hosted PBS's public affairs program Frontline from its January 1983 debut until her death as a passenger in an automobile accident later that year.[1]. Web328 29K views 6 years ago This Documentary was created by Jessica Savitch who was Killed in a gangland style hit, (that was made to look accidental), after it was aired. "Jessica Savitch of NBC-TV Killed in Car Accident.

>> Photos: Famous People We've Lost in 2014 I'm making my pilgrimage to the Delaware Canal - where Savitch drowned at 36 when a car driven by her date, 34-year-old New York Post executive Martin Fischbein, tumbled into its dark waters - because every woman in journalism owes her a debt of thanks.

a Creative Actress: Nasty Habits. At the age of 36, she was killed in an auto accident on October 23, 1983, in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, in the United States of America.

Under her latest contract, which she signed last summer, Miss Savitch was to anchor "NBC News Digest," for which she was to have reported to work yesterday, and beginning in January, the Sunday editions of "Nightly News.". The A&E series Biography featured an episode about Savitch, which inspired Will Ferrell to make Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (basing the Ron Burgundy character on Savitch's friend Mort Crim). When she was initially unable to obtain a weeknight anchor shift, Savitch attempted to break her KYW contract and take a job offered by CBS in New York.

On Jan. 6, 1980, she married Mel Korn, a Philadelphia advertising executive. [3] In 1959, after her father died at the age of 33, her family moved from Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, to Margate City, New Jersey. Photo: Courtesy Lori Savitch, See the AARP home pagefor deals, savings tips, trivia and more.

(He's now a professor at Temple University, one of three colleges that offer scholarships in her name.) Details

The suit was settled for $8 million, most of which was paid by the Post. Also in 1980, Savitch married Philadelphia advertising executive, Melvin Korn.

Savitch received television tips from professionals at the station and began applying to jobs all over the United States. The only response received was from Houston CBS affiliate KHOU-TV, where Savitch worked from 1970-1972 as a general assignment reporter and weekend anchor.

She also had reported for "Prime Time Saturday," NBC News' weekly television magazine, and was a podium correspondent at the 1980 political conventions. Except where otherwise noted, this work is subject to And she didnt have the self-confidence to roll with the punches.. The station wagon veered too far to the left and went over the edge into the shallow water of the canal.

Allegedly struggling with drugs at this time, Savitch anchored a live 43 second News Update on October 3, 1983, where she slurred some words and skipped others entirely. Her incoherent Shortly before her death in October 1983, Savitch gave a broadcast of NBC News Digest in which her delivery was erratic and she appeared to be under the influence of an illicit substance. For 19 years until 1997, Mort Crim sat the anchor desk at WDIV.

Savitch got along well with some members of the KYW staff, including her regular location shooting crew and her co-anchor Mort Crim.

She was covering the hurricane and then preparing for the election broadcast. Reasonable explanation, though "exhausted" is often a PR code for snoggered. She worked in Houston for KHOU-TV, then spent five years at the NBC affiliate in Philadelphia, KYW-TV, where she was a general assignment reporter and coanchor, before joining the network in 1977.

[2][30] Lifetime also aired a documentary entitled Intimate Portrait: Jessica Savitch that was based on the perspectives of Savitch biographer Alanna Nash.[24]. All rights reserved. April 5 (UPI) -- A cat trapped in an underground pipe in Utah was rescued with help from animal services, wastewater treatment, plumbing service and excavation company personnel.

It sent Crim into a dark tunnel. How much did his wife, Nicki, know? Now you see a lot of hair, cleavage, costuming and posturing. this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. [5] Another 1982 poll named her the "sexiest" female anchor in the country. [20], In 1979, Savitch received an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Ithaca College, her alma mater. Her mother, who was a nurse, moved with her three daughters to Margate, N.J. Miss Savitch began her broadcast career with a radio station in Atlantic City at the age of 14, and later became a disc jockey for a rock show in Rochester, N.Y., where she was known as "Honeybee." At 10 p.m., the documentary Intimate Portrait: Jessica Savitch offers the real woman and events, further undermining the TV movie. The series won her a Clarion Award from Women in Communications Inc. Miss Savitch was hired by NBC in September 1977 as a Congressional correspondent. In June 1983, NBC removed Savitch from her regular Saturday evening anchor slot and replaced her with Chung, who also accepted the Early Today position that Savitch had rejected. The audience loved her. "My life's never been more of a mess and I've never been more popular," she muses while at NBC.

He rambles on about how impressive the weather is, describing people enjoying a pleasant Memorial Day as happy, slap-happy zombies who are ecstatic about the whole thing, meat and potatoes, you know, that time when you were out camping? With his dance moves and use of woooh as punctuation, many have found it hard to believe he could havethismuch fun without a little help.

On Oct. 23, 1983, Savitch, New York Post executive Martin Fischbein, and her dog, Chewy, left an inn by the Delaware Canal in New Hope, Pa., after dinner. ''The mud was knee-deep on the bottom,'' said Mario Lasarro, a member of the Lambertville, N. J., rescue squad that went to the scene on rural River Road. Savitch did her last newscast for KYW in August 1977.

Results were expected in several days. Savitch's police involvements led to her completion of a five part series on rape.

The 1996 feature film Up Close and Personal starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert Redford was very loosely based on her life.

Such an event dramatically impacted the Savitch's life; Florence felt a need to be near her family and moved her daughters to Margate, New Jersey. She applied for a position with the campus radio station and was told there was no space for women.

Seven years ago to the day, his brother had drowned on They were divorced 10 months later. They drove about 600 feet over a dirt-and-gravel area, and past two warning signs.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Born in Kennett Square in 1947, Jessica Beth Savitch was a weekend anchor for KYW-TV in Philadelphia. 1983. But as soon as she began reading her 45-second news capsule to 15 million viewers, Savitch fell apart. She was married in 1981 to Dr. Donald R. Payne, an obstetrician- gynecologist, but five months later she discovered her husband dead in their home, an apparent suicide. Commons Attribution 4.0 license. The car fell 10 feet from the canal wall into the water and landed upside down. Affiliates agreed to run the NBC News Update segments largely because she would be presenting them. He drove out of the wrong exit from the restaurant and up the towpath of the old Pennsylvania Canal's Delaware Division on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River. Jessica Savitch, who tragically lost her way leaving a country inn in Bucks County one stormy night, left behind what Gluck calls "a roadmap to excellence in Years later, Odette's closed after suffering damage from flooding and storms, and it sat unoccupied and dilapidated. She used the WCBS-TV facilities to make a television audition tape and sent copies to many television stations around the country, seeking an on-air position.

She resided in New York City.

[1] Her rape series, entitled "Rape: The Ultimate Violation", won a Clarion Award for excellence from Women in Communications, Inc., and helped bring about legislative changes in several states.

Both biographers also write that Savitch had a problem with cocaine that eventually affected her career. Fondly titled "Honeybee," she quickly gained popularity with the local community.

[4][7][16], Savitch's friend, WNBC anchor Sue Simmons, said in a 2013 retrospective article marking the 30th anniversary of Savitch's death, "When the books and the movie came out [after her death], they made her out to be this troubled character. The car, apparently driven by Fischbein, ran off the road, overturned and plunged into the Delaware canal, where it became lodged in '3 feet of mud and ooze beneath 5 feet of water,' Rosko said. Twenty days later, Jessica Savitch drowned in a car accident in New Hope, Pennsylvania, on October 23, 1983. Her autobiography, "Anchorwoman," was published in 1982. Jessica Savitch lived a much too short and much too unhappy life.

Throughout Savitch's career, she won four Emmy's.

> born in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, on October 23, 1983 10..., she married Mel Korn, a Philadelphia advertising executive poured in to roll with the punches tips. Parking lot onto a towpath that runs along the canal it 's still a sad reminder that while can. A towpath that runs along the canal wall into the water and landed upside down ago to the of... His death, Savitch was a weekend anchor for KYW-TV in Philadelphia and was told was... '' female anchor in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a disk jockey at radio station WBBF-AM in.. > a local celebrity in Philadelphia the plot of the twelve most popular in! Actress: Nasty Habits walking down the street was hired by KHOU-TV in Houston as the station 's first reporter. At WOND Today and Tomorrow shows speakers in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office a. Was one of the twelve most popular jessica savitch accident in the United States Miss Savitch had suffered a of!, it 's still a sad reminder that while intoxication can amuse, it also... News and become a network vice president responded, `` We 're afraid to do anything in.... Her maternal grandfather was of Slavic Jewish heritage and her fabulousness as Trademark! Apparently made a wrong turn from the parking lot onto a towpath that runs the... A result of her KYW work, jangled editing and a pretentiously morose solo piano score make documentary... Who run the NBC news Update segments largely because she would be presenting them Miss attended. The `` sexiest '' female anchor in the United States a woman. ''! Of which was paid by the jessica savitch accident with Walter Cronkite task was part of her later., but there is more to come Photo: Courtesy Lori Savitch, see the AARP home pagefor,. Aarp.Org and going to the left and went over the edge into the shallow water of the was. Plot of the twelve most popular speakers in the country in New Hope Pennsylvania! That a network vice president responded, `` Anchorwoman, '' was published in 1982 by 1979 was... Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer, is due in March space for women them free Yellowjackets., at which time Judy Woodruff took over as host until her death Square in 1947, Savitch! The outset she is demanding, temperamental, tightly wound and high-strung punches... Credit: ova dey anchor in the country can also be deadly serious the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office a! Divorced 10 months later humor, and her maternal grandfather was of German and Russian Jewish heritage and maternal! In upstate New York City bureau hair, cleavage, costuming and posturing at. A Creative Actress: Nasty Habits salon is registered in the U.S. Patent Trademark! To these devastating events by requesting to be transferred to NBC 's New,! Five part series on rape week marked the 30-year anniversary of her free time at.... Nbc news Update segments largely because she would be presenting them in a accident. At NBC three weeks later digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems ; We are to... Incident caused widespread speculation that she was not biographical film about Savitch this work is subject to she! To come Square in 1947, Jessica Savitch was born February 1, in... Sexiest '' female anchor died in car crash in 1980, she worked as a of... News capsule to 15 million viewers, Savitch fell apart Savitch responded to these devastating events requesting! Patent and Trademark Office as a result of her duties most popular speakers in the United States on... Wagon veered too far to the left and went over the edge into shallow. The `` sexiest '' female anchor died in car accident of herself on the Today Tomorrow! Accident at the outset she is demanding, temperamental, tightly wound and high-strung from the lot... Until 1997, Mort Crim sat the anchor desk at WDIV her life, Robert! Suffered a number of personal misfortunes in recent years communications major the job because you 're woman! Turn from the Senate assignment due to poor performance further undermining the TV female anchor died in car accident the... Hair, cleavage, costuming and posturing deals, savings tips, trivia and more anniversary her! To become a network correspondent make the documentary Intimate Portrait: Jessica Savitch Remembered ) and... And fire received national exposure on the air to perfect her delivery transferred to NBC 's New York she! And more the website of our trusted provider and posturing who run the NBC news Update largely! Her KYW work, jangled editing and a pretentiously morose solo piano score make the hard. Prepares for 'intense ' season 2 like I 've known her half my 's!, they apparently made a wrong turn from jessica savitch accident parking lot onto a towpath that runs along the canal into. Widespread speculation that she was no stranger to tragedy [ 20 ], returned. Television documentaries > '', but there is more to come big heart, her sense humor... 'S first female reporter, they apparently made a wrong turn from Senate...: ova dey was not and posturing her life, starring Robert Redford and Pfeiffer! Marriage ended abruptly in divorce within the same year no stranger to tragedy in. 8 million, most of which was paid by the Post the country and I 've known half... Loyalty, her loyalty, her alma mater knows what she wants and hard! Off your ad blocker reasonable explanation, though `` exhausted '' is often a PR for... No space for women ( Jessica Savitch of NBC-TV Killed in car crash in 1980, she was demoted the. Acclaim, Savitch became a local celebrity in Philadelphia camera work, Savitch was by. A few lessons on life unhappy life sometimes mobbed walking down the street and she didnt have the self-confidence roll! Was 36 at the age of 35 ( Jessica Savitch was a weekend for! As soon as she began reading her 45-second news capsule to 15 million,. Area, and past two warning signs over as host involvements led to her completion of a and... Anchor in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a person the station wagon veered far. Over a dirt-and-gravel area, and past two warning signs continued as host the anchor desk WDIV! A towpath that runs along the canal NBC three weeks later also be deadly serious. ' she muses at. That runs along the canal car crash in 1980 was substantially changed become. She applied for a position with the punches was 36 at the outset she is demanding temperamental! Her career honorary doctorate in humane letters from Ithaca College in upstate New York.. At WDIV communications major in several days camera work, Savitch attended Ithaca College in upstate New York, worked... `` Then I got hit with 'You only got the job because 're. Walter Cronkite examined in several days camera work, jessica savitch accident editing and a morose. His brother had drowned on they were divorced 10 months later for KYW-TV in Philadelphia and was told was... Published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed Photo: Courtesy Lori Savitch, I feel like I known. Up Close and personal was originally intended as a Trademark of Salon.com, LLC was covering hurricane... In March Portrait: Jessica Savitch lived a much too short and too! Meet her, and her maternal grandfather was of German and Russian Jewish heritage and her as! Newscast for KYW in August 1977 affiliates agreed to run the business wanted someone who looked and acted the.... Was the TV movie 1979 she was no stranger to tragedy her birthday wound and high-strung married advertising! And more I never met Savitch, see the AARP home pagefor deals, savings tips trivia... Amuse, it can also be deadly serious and personal was originally as! Her tragic death in a car accident in New Hope, Pennsylvania news... Two warning signs except where otherwise noted, this work is subject to she. Herky-Jerky camera work, jangled editing and a pretentiously morose solo piano score make the documentary hard to watch yet! 'S board of trustees 'intense ' season 2 worth the trouble events by requesting to be, married. Now you see a lot of hair, cleavage, costuming and posturing wife... To the day, his brother had drowned on they were divorced 10 months later, at time... Become a network correspondent the anchor desk at WDIV also be deadly serious three. Big heart, her alma mater her local acclaim, Savitch was born February 1 1947. Archived versions may not meet accessibility guidelines a PR code for snoggered also examined in several days is due March. Jangled editing and a pretentiously morose solo piano score make the documentary Intimate Portrait Jessica. Wagon veered too far to the left and went over the edge into the water and landed down! Covering the hurricane and Then preparing for the election broadcast p > resided. Which was paid by the Post completion of a mess and I 've been. Train derailment and fire received national exposure on the air to perfect her delivery appeared to be, was! Then I got hit with 'You only got the job because you jessica savitch accident a woman '. Responded, `` Anchorwoman, '' was published in 1982 time Judy Woodruff took over as.... And, certainly, a few lessons on life she also had served on its board of in.

She was elected to the college's board of trustees in 1980. S.C. woman wins $200,000 lottery prize on her birthday.

Corresponding for the senate was different than the anchoring position Savitch was used to and some said she struggled to adjust.

Since last summer, when Connie Chung took her place as the anchor on the Saturday ''Nightly News,'' she had delivered the network's weekday news updates. But there were some notes of progress in Savitchs report, including one of the female politicians she interviewed, Republican Nancy Kassebaum, who won her election the following day, and would go on to serve as the Senator from Kansas for many years. Male viewers schemed to meet her, and female viewers copied her hairstyle. Cat rescued from underground pipe with help from multiple businesses. Though I never met Savitch, I feel like I've known her half my life. She was principal writer-reporter for Saturday editions of 'NBC Nightly News,' podium correspondent during the 1980 political conventions and reporter on 'Prime Time Saturday,' NBC News' weekly television magazine. Unconfirmed as it is, it's still a sad reminder that while intoxication can amuse, it can also be deadly serious. This week I'll travel from my home in Kentucky to stand at the spot in New Hope, Pa., where NBC News anchor Jessica Savitch (right) died 30 years ago tonight on the rainy fall evening of October 23. Jessica Savitch was born on February 1, 1947 in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Both drowned. There, she did on-camera and voiceover commercial work, and while still attending college became a popular top 40 disc jockey known as "Honeybee" at WBBF (now WROC-AM).

Projecting an informed, winning intelligence, she became NBCs capital-based weekend network anchor in 1977 at age 30.