Edwin Newman

Edwin Newman (born January 25, 1919, New York City) is a journalist and writer.

Newman was a longtime correspondent for NBC News. Newman was a member of the network news team that announced to the nation the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. Newman anchored the early hours of the network's radio coverage (radio was then a significant source of news) and informed listeners that two priests who had been with the President said that he was dead. Newman delivered an editorial on television that evening.

In 1975, Newman became the first person to interview the Japanese Emperor Hirohito.

Non-news appearances in media

Newman also served as "NBC Newsbreak" anchor during the summer of 1980 on David Letterman's short-lived morning show, and often participated in the show's non-news segments. For some years prior to that show, Newman anchored five-minute newscasts at various timeslots on NBC's daytime schedule in the 1960s and 1970s; these were later reduced to one-minute brief updates after 1976. In 1976, Newman was the moderator of the first presidential debate between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, the first such debate in 16 years.

Newman appeared in a dream sequence on "The Golden Girls" in an episode where Rose (Betty White) dreamt she was going to Russia. He also played a TV reporter in the movie "The Pelican Brief", based on the novel of the same name by John Grisham.

He appeared in the movies "Stripes", "Spies Like Us", and "My Fellow Americans" as himself.

Newman guest-hosted "Saturday Night Live" in 1984, and anchored the show's Weekend Update segment on three occasions. His 1984 appearance marked his retirement as a newscaster for NBC and, to the delight of the audience, he sang the song "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone" as part of his opening monologue.

Writing

Newman is the author of the book "Your Public Best" published by "Newmarket Press". He also wrote "Strictly Speaking" and "A Civil Tongue", well-regarded and best-selling studies of language and its abuses, and a novel, "Sunday Punch."

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSpctVvZ6Zo&feature=related YouTube clip of Newman, on NBC Radio, reporting JFK death]
* [http://www.earthstation1.com/pgs/kennedys/dov-JFKTVCoverage631122h.ram.html Clip of TV editorial on JFK death]