Chet Huntley
Huntley began his radio newscast career in 1934 at Seattle's KIRO AM, later working on radio stations in Spokane (KHQ) and Portland. His time (1936–37) in Portland was with KGW-AM, owned by The Oregonian, a Portland daily newspaper. At KGW he was writer, newscaster, and announcer. In 1937 he went to work for KFI in Los Angeles, moving to CBS Radio from 1939 to 1951, then ABC Radio from 1951 to 1955. In 1955, he joined the NBC Radio network, viewed by network executives as "another Ed Murrow". In 1956, coverage of the national political party conventions was a major point of pride for the fledgling broadcast news organizations. NBC News executives were seeking to counter the growing popularity of CBS' Walter Cronkite, who had been a ratings success at the 1952 conventions. They decided to replace their current news anchor, John Cameron Swayze, but there was a disagreement on who the new anchorman should be. The two leading contenders were Huntley and David Brinkley. The eventual decision was to have both men share the assignment. Their on-air chemistry was apparent from the start, with Huntley's straightforward presentation countered by Brinkley's acerbic wit. This success soon led to the team replacing Swayze on the network's nightly news program. It was decided to have the two men co-anchor the show; Huntley from New York City, Brinkley from Washington, D.C. The Huntley-Brinkley Report began in October 1956 and was soon a ratings success. Huntley and Brinkley's catchphrase closing of "Good night, David"—"Good night, Chet... and good night for NBC News" was developed by the show's producer, Reuven Frank. Although both anchors initially disliked it, the sign-off became famous. Huntley and Brinkley gained great celebrity themselves, with surveys showing them better known than John Wayne, Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart or the Beatles. The gregarious Huntley remained the same, a friend commenting in 1968 that "Chet is warm, he's friendly, he's unaffected, he's—well, he's just so damned nice." In April 1956, before that year's political conventions that brought him to prominence, Huntley began anchoring a new half-hour program entitled Outlook, produced by Reuven Frank. The program aired for seven years, later changing its name to Chet Huntley Reporting, and often covered racial segregation and civil rights. In January 1962, the program moved from the Sunday evening news time-slot to prime time. Huntley wrote a memoir of his Montana childhood, The Generous Years: Remembrances of a Frontier Boyhood, published by Random House in 1968. He also became involved in a New York advertising agency, Levine, Huntley, Schmidt, Plapler & Beaver, gaining a 10 percent share in the agency in exchange for having his name on the letterhead and attending some agency meetings. He maintained his own cattle farm in Stockton, New Jersey, which for a short time in 1964 included a beef line from the farm's cattle promoted under his name before the network intervened due to conflict of interest and promotional concerns. Huntley's last NBC News broadcast was aired on Friday, July 31, 1970. He returned to Montana, where he conceived and built Big Sky, a ski resort south of Bozeman, which opened in December 1973.
The Bonnie Parker Story
as Opening Narrator (voice) (uncredited)In the 1930s, amoral blonde tommy-gun girl Bonnie Parker cut a swath of bodies across the...
Movie pageThe Big Street
as Radio Announcer (Voice) (Uncredited)Meek busboy Little Pinks is in love with an extremely selfish nightclub singer who despises and...
Movie pageDay the World Ended
as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)After a nuclear attack, an unlikely group of survivors, including a geologist, a crook and his...
Movie pageCry Terror!
as HimselfA mad bomber holds an innocent family hostage.
Movie pageMr. Lucky
as Radio Broadcaster (voice) (uncredited)A conman poses as a war relief fundraiser, but when he falls for a charity worker, his...
Movie pageGloria: In Her Own Words
as Self (archive footage)Despite decades of opposition from the right, and recent personal setbacks, Gloria Steinem...
Movie pageDisneyland Around the Seasons
as SelfWalt takes viewers on yet another tour of Disneyland to point out some of the newest additions...
Movie pageFlight for Freedom
as Radio Broadcaster (uncredited)A fictionalized biopic about aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart. A female pilot breaks the Los...
Movie pageThe Decision to Drop the Bomb
as SelfJ. Robert Oppenheimer and other key figures involved in the decision to drop the first atomic...
Movie pageI Cheated the Law
as Himself, Chet HuntleyAn attorney (Tom Conway) learns he was duped into being his gangster murder client's (Steve...
Movie pageThe Thread of Life
as Himself (opening narration) (voice) (uncredited)Introduction to DNA by Frank Baxter and Bell Labs.
Movie pageMau-Mau
as NarratorNewsman Chet Huntley narrates this documentary showing the rise of the African resistance...
Movie pageAnd Ten Thousand More
as NarratorStudent film sponsored by an urban housing authority advocating the financing of public housing....
Movie pageFriars Club Roast of Don Rickles
as SelfThe New York Friars club roasts Don Rickles. Hosted by Johnny Carson.
Movie pageSit-In
as NarratorSIT-IN (1960) is filmmaker Robert M. Young’ (Nothing But A aman, The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez)...
Movie pageThe Dick Cavett Show
as Self - GuestThe Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various...
TV Show pageKraft Music Hall
as SelfKraft Music Hall is an umbrella title for several television series aired by NBC in the United...
TV Show pageThe Sixties
as Self - NBC News (archive footage)The space race, the cold war, "free love," civil rights and more: The decade of the 1960s shaped...
TV Show pageThe Emmy Awards
as SelfAn annual awards ceremony honoring the best in U.S. prime time television programming as chosen...
TV Show pageVanished
as NewscasterGovernment agencies investigate the mysterious disappearance of a powerful presidential adviser.
TV Show pageThe Kraft Music Hall
as SelfA few years after Perry Como left as host, "The Kraft Music Hall" was revived as a regular...
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