Hugh Downs
Downs in 1972
Born	Hugh Malcolm Downs (1921-02-14)February 14, 1921 Akron, Ohio, U.S.
Died	July 1, 2020(2020-07-01) (aged 99) Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S.
Education	Bluffton University Wayne State University Columbia University (BA) Hunter College (GrDip)
Occupations	Television broadcaster television host television producer author game show presenter music composer radio announcer radio programmer
Years active	1939–2007
Spouse	Ruth Shaheen ​ ​ (m. 1944; died 2017)​
Children	2

Hugh Malcolm Downs (February 14, 1921 – July 1, 2020) was an American radio and television broadcaster, announcer and programmer; television host; news anchor; TV producer; author; game show host; talk showsidekick; and music composer. A regular television presence from the mid 1940s until the late 1990s, he had several successful roles on morning, prime-time, and late-night television. For several years, he held the certifiedGuinness World Record for the most hours on commercial network television before being surpassed byRegis Philbin, who died 24 days after he did.^[1]

Downs served as announcer and sidekick forTonight Starring Jack Paar from 1957 to 1962,^[2][3] co-host of theNBC News programToday from 1962 to 1971,^[4] host of theConcentrationgame show from 1958 to 1969,^[5][6] and anchor of theABC Newsmagazine20/20 from 1978 to 1999.^[7]

Downs started his career in radio in 1939 and began inlive television in 1945 in Chicago, where he became a regular on several nationally broadcast programs over the next decade. He moved to New York City in 1954, when he was invited to do a program there. Among other shows during his career, he hosted thePBS talk showOver Easy^[8] and was the occasional co-host of thesyndicated talk showNot for Women Only.^[9]

Downs was born on February 14, 1921, inAkron, Ohio, to Edith (née Hicks) and Milton Howard Downs, who worked in business.^[10] He was educated atLima Shawnee High School inLima, Ohio;Bluffton College, aMennonite school inBluffton, Ohio; andWayne State University inDetroit, Michigan, during the period 1938–41.^[11]

Downs worked as a radio announcer and program director in 1939 atWLOK inLima, Ohio, after his first year of college.^[12][13] In 1940, he moved on toWWJ inDetroit. Downs served in theUnited States Army duringWorld War II in 1943 and then joined theNBC radio network atWMAQ as an announcer inChicago, where he lived until 1954.^[12] He can be heard announcing the ground breaking 1948–1950 radio showDestination Freedom (written byRichard Durham) which told stories of historical and current Black people.^[14] While at WMAQ, Downs also acted, including as the "co-pilot", along with famed Chicago children's program personality Ned Locke, on theUncle Ned's Squadron program in 1951. Programs of "Uncle Ned's Squadron" can be found in the archives of Museum Of Broadcast Communications in Chicago, and, at no charge, from radio historian Chuck Schaden's "Speaking Of Radio – Those Were The Days Encore" website. Downs then attendedColumbia University inNew York City from 1955 to 1956.^[15]

Downs made his first television news broadcast in September 1945 from the still-experimental studio ofWBKB-TV (now WBBM-TV) in Chicago, a station then owned by theBalaban and Katz theater subsidiary ofParamount Pictures.^[16] Downs later recalled that when he went for his first job, he had never seen a television before, and he was unsure whether television would last.^[17] Downs became a television regular in 1950, announcing forHawkins Falls, the first successful televisionsoap opera, which was sponsored byLever Brothers'Surf detergent. He also announced theBurr Tillstrom children's showKukla, Fran and Ollie from theNBC studios at Chicago'sMerchandise Mart after the network picked up the program from WBKB.

In March 1954, Downs moved toNew York City to accept a position as announcer forPat Weaver'sThe Home Show starringArlene Francis. That program lasted until August 1957. He was the announcer forSid Caesar'sCaesar's Hour for the 1956–57 season and one of NBC Radio'sMonitor "Communicators" from 1955 to 1959.^[18] Downs became a bona fide television "personality" asJack Paar's announcer onThe Tonight Show from mid 1957, when he replacedFranklin Pangborn, until Paar's departure in March 1962,^[12] and then continued to announce forThe Tonight Show until the summer of 1962, whenEd Herlihy took the announcing reins. Herlihy held that post until October 1, 1962, whenJohnny Carson took over the show, and broughtEd McMahon on as his announcer.^[19]

On August 25, 1958, Downs began a more-than-ten-year run concurrently hosting the original version of the game showConcentration.^[6] He also hostedNBC'sToday Show for nine years from September 1962 to October 1971 and co-hosted the syndicated television programNot for Women Only withBarbara Walters in 1975–76. Downs also appeared as a panelist on the televisiongame showTo Tell the Truth and played himself in an episode of NBC's sitcomCar 54, Where Are You?^[20]

Downs earned a postgraduate degree ingerontology fromHunter College while he was hostingOver Easy, aPBS television program about aging that aired from 1977 to 1983. He was probably best known in later years as theEmmy Award-winning co-anchor—again paired with Walters—of theABC newsTV show20/20, a prime-time news magazine program, from the show's second episode in 1978 until his retirement in 1999.^[7]

Downs was inducted into theInternational Air & Space Hall of Fame at theSan Diego Air & Space Museum in 1984.^[21] In that same year, he was certified by the Guinness Book of World Records (nowGuinness World Records) as holding the record for the greatest number of hours on network commercial television (15,188 hours),^[22] though he lost the record for most hours on all forms of television toRegis Philbin in 2004.^[23]

A published composer, Downs hosted the PBS showcase forclassical musicLive from Lincoln Center from 1990 to 1996. Downs made a cameo appearance onFamily Guy in addition to other television shows.^[24]

Downs was seen in infomercials forBottom Line Publications, including itsWorld's Greatest Treasury of Health Secrets, as well as one for a personal coach. He appeared in an infomercial forWhere There's a Will There's an A in 2003. His subsequent infomercial work aroused some controversy, with many arguing that the products were scams.^[25]

Downs appeared in regional public-service announcements in Arizona for the state'sMotor Vehicles Division and for Hospice of the Valley, a Phoenix-area non-profit organization specializing inhospice care. He also produced some public short-form programs in which he served as host of educational interstitials.^[26]

On October 13, 2007, Downs became one of the first inductees into theAmerican TV Game Show Hall of Fame inLas Vegas, Nevada.^[27]

Downs was inducted as a Lincoln Laureate inthe Lincoln Academy of Illinois and was awarded the Order of Lincoln (the state's highest honor) by thegovernor of Illinois in 1967.^[28]

Downs was a special consultant to theUnited Nations for refugee problems from 1961 to 1964,^[29] and served as chairman of the board of the United States Committee forUNICEF.^[29][30]

Downs wrote a column forScience Digest during the 1960s. He was a science consultant for Westinghouse Laboratories and theFord Foundation and an elected member of theNational Academy of Sciences. He served as chair of the Board of Governors of theNational Space Society until 2019 and was a longtime president and chairman of the society's predecessor, theNational Space Institute.^[31] Theasteroid71000 Hughdowns is named after him.^[32]

The auditorium ofShawnee High School inLima, Ohio, and theHugh Downs School of Human Communication atArizona State University inTempe, Arizona, are named in his honor.^[33][34]

As part of Arizona's centennial celebration in February 2012, Downs narratedAaron Copland'sLincoln Portrait on stage with thePhoenix Symphony.^[35]

Downs publicly expressed support forlibertarian viewpoints. He opposed the U.S.war on drugs and appeared in several pieces about the war on drugs andhemp.^[36] On his last20/20, he was asked if he had any personal opinions that he would like to express, and he responded that marijuana should be legalized.^[37]

Downs married Ruth Shaheen on February 17, 1944. They had two children, Deirdre and H.R.^[38] Ruth died on March 28, 2017, at age 95.^[38]

Downs held aprivate pilot certificate, and wasrated for multi-engine airplanes, single-engineseaplanes,hot air balloons, andglider aerotow.^[39]

On July 1, 2020, at the age of 99, Downs died from heart failure at his home inScottsdale, Arizona.^[40][41] He was interred at the Christ Church of the Ascension Memory Garden inParadise Valley, Arizona.

• A Global Affair (1964) as himself^[42]
• Survival of Spaceship Earth (1972) as an interviewee, along withRene Dubos,Margaret Mead, andJohn D. Rockefeller, III, in the documentary about the Earth's environmental crisis^[43][44]
• Nothing by Chance (1975) as executive producer and narrator for the documentary about thebiplanes thatbarnstormed across America during the 1920s^[45]
• Oh, God! Book II (1980) as a newscaster^[46]
• Someone Like You (2001) as himself^[47]

• Yours Truly... Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 1960. (autobiography)^[48]
• A Shoal of Stars: A True-Life Account of Everyman's Dream: Sailing Across the Pacific to Exotic Lands. Doubleday. 1967.^[49]
• Rings Around Tomorrow. Doubleday. 1970.an anthology of Downs' science articles^[50]
• Potential: The Way to Emotional Maturity. Doubleday. 1973.ISBN 978-0385037426.
• Thirty Dirty Lies About Old Age. Argus. 1979.ISBN 0895050331.
• The Best Years: How to Plan for Fulfillment, Security, and Happiness in the Retirement Years. Delacorte Press hardcover. 1981.ISBN 0385280769.
• The Best Years Book. Dell Publishing paperback. 1982.ISBN 978-0895050335.
• On Camera: My 10,000 Hours on Television. Putnam. 1986.ISBN 978-0399132032.
• Fifty to Forever. Thomas Nelson Inc. 1994.ISBN 978-0840777867.a collection of essays
• Perspectives. Turner Publications. 1995.ISBN 978-1570362835.50 selections from his ten-minute radio essays
• Greater Phoenix: The Desert in Bloom. Towery Publications. 1999.ISBN 978-1881096696.
• Pure Gold: A Lifetime of Love and Marriage. Arizona State University Press. 2001.ISBN 978-0971716001.
• Hugh Downs, ed. (2002).My America: What My Country Means to Me, by 150 Americans from All Walks of Life. Scribner.ISBN 978-0743234740.
• Letter to a Great Grandson: A Message of Love, Advice, and Hopes for the Future. Scribner. 2004.ISBN 978-0743262910.
• "The Longest Story Ever Told",Omni, March 1980

• Newsmagazine

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• ABC News' bio of Hugh Downs from 2003 (archived)
• Hugh Downs atThe Interviews: An Oral History of Television
• Appearances onC-SPAN
• Hugh Downs atIMDb
• Hugh Downs discography atDiscogs
• Hugh Downs atFind a Grave
• Hugh Downs Papers at theAmerican Heritage Center

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