Television news presenter, born in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He began his career as a radio reporter in his hometown, and in 1962 joined ABC as a television news reporter and anchor for the local evening newscast. He continued as a newscaster at WABC-TV in New York (19628, 19702001) and as host of the show that became Good Morning America. A much respected figure in the industry, he was well-known for his trademark signoff phrase Good luck and be well. After stepping down in 2001, he continued to report for the network for a further two years, frequently travelling overseas. During his career he won several Emmy awards and a Peabody award.
| Bill Beutel | |
|---|---|
| Bill Beutel in 1995 on Eyewitness News. | |
| Born |
December 12, 1930 Cleveland, Ohio |
| Died |
March 18, 2006 Pinehurst, North Carolina |
Bill Beutel, born William Charles Beutel, Jr. (December 12, 1930 – March 18, 2006) was an American television news anchor and reporter.
Early Life and Career
The son of a dentist, Beutel had a lifelong dream of becoming a reporter. Beutel graduated from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire after a stint in the Army and studied law at the University of Michigan Law School, though later flunking out of the latter. While Beutel was in law school, he wrote Murrow a letter saying, "I very much wanted to be a radio journalist."
His first radio job was in Cleveland before moving to CBS Radio in New York City in 1957.
Television Career
Beutel moved to ABC on October 22, 1962 as a reporter with ABC News and as anchor at the network's New York flagship, WABC-TV. Beutel was doing both local and network news at a mere $20,000 a year.
Beutel left his WABC duties for two years in April 1968 to join ABC News full time as their London bureau chief. In 1970, he got a call from Al Primo, who had taken over as news director at WABC after Beutel left. He wanted Beutel to return to New York as co-anchor alongside Roger Grimsby, who had succeeded Beutel as WABC-TV's main anchor.
Beutel rejoined WABC-TV on September 28, 1970 as Grimsby's co-anchor on Eyewitness News. Within three months, Beutel and Grimsby became two of the most influential personalities in television news history.
On January 6, 1975, Beutel was reassigned by ABC News and became the co-host (along with Stephanie Edwards) of a new morning show called AM America. Beutel then returned to WABC-TV and Eyewitness News, though he maintained a presence on the network as the anchor of its 15-minute late newscasts on Saturday and Sunday nights through the late 1970s. Bill Bonds, from WXYZ-TV in Detroit, served as one of Grimsby's co-anchors during Beutel's absence. After Grimsby's firing, Beutel was joined at 6 p.m. by Kaity Tong and later John Johnson, followed by a lengthy stint anchoring alone before being paired with Diana Williams in 1998. When Ernie Anastos left Eyewitness News in 1989, Beutel returned to the 11 p.m. newscast and worked with several co-anchors, including Kaity Tong, Susan Roesgen, and finally Diana Williams. Beutel was replaced at 11:00 and 6:00 in 1999 and 2001, respectively, by ABC News correspondent Bill Ritter. In all, Beutel served as an anchor at WABC-TV for a total of 35 years, the last 31 of those continuously--the longest run in New York television history. Beutel retired from television and ABC after 41 years in February 2003.
Personal life
Beutel was married four times, first to Gail Wilder (now Gail Beutel) for twenty years, who gave birth to all of his four children.
In 1980, Beutel married Adair Atwell, a former lobbyist for the tobacco industry.
Beutel died on the afternoon of March 18, 2006, in his home in Pinehurst, North Carolina from complications of a progressive neurological disorder.
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