Frank Reynolds
Frank Reynolds (November 29, 1923 – July 20, 1983), was a TV journalist for ABC. He served in the United States army but is best remembered as anchor of the ABC Evening News (now World News Tonight) from 1968 to 1970. His body is interred in Arlington National Cemetery.
He originally co-anchored with Howard K. Smith and later with Harry Reasoner who was fresh from CBS. After Reasoner and Barbara Walters ceased their anchor duties in 1978, Reynolds returned to the anchor chair as the Washington, D.C. anchor for the now revamped ABC's World News Tonight with co-anchors Max Robinson (the first African-American journalist to anchor on primetime network TV) and Peter Jennings, who became the show's sole anchor after Reynolds' death from bone cancer, which was discovered while he was being treated for hepatitis in the spring of 1983. All three original anchors of World News Tonight are now deceased.
Reynolds was also the original anchor of "America Held Hostage", a series of special reports in November 1979 that evolved into the newsmagazine Nightline in 1980. Shortly after the special reports began, Reynolds was replaced by Ted Koppel.
One infamous moment in Frank Reynolds' career occurred on March 30, 1981 during live news coverage of the assassination attempt on U.S. President Ronald Reagan. White House Press Secretary James Brady had been erroneously reported by all three networks as having died from the head wound he suffered in the incident. Upon learning that this information was incorrect, Reynolds suddenly appeared noticeably upset and, looking around at staffers in the background, angrily burst out:
"Let's get it NAILED DOWN...somebody...let's find out! Let's get it straight so we can report this thing accurately!"
The network quickly moved to a break and upon return, Ted Koppel was seated next to Reynolds to share anchor duties and, perhaps, be a calming influence on his clearly agitated co-worker. It was one of the few times in TV history that viewers witnessed an otherwise professional journalist "lose his cool" on live TV.
Frank is the father of ABC News correspondent Dean Reynolds.
External links
| Preceded by Peter Jennings |
ABC Evening News / ABC World News Tonight anchorwith coanchors Howard K. Smith, Harry Reasoner, Barbara Walters, Max Robinson, and Peter Jennings 1968-1983 |
Succeeded by Peter Jennings |
| Preceded by None |
America Held Hostage (Nightline) anchor 1979 |
Succeeded by Ted Koppel |
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