James Leroy Hartz (February 3, 1940 – April 17, 2022) was an American television personality, columnist and reporter during the mid- and late-1970s. At age 24, he was the youngest correspondent NBC had ever hired. Hartz became best known to a national audience for a two-year position as the co-host of the '' Today Show,'' along with Barbara Walters. Hartz replaced the deceased Frank McGee, who also hailed from Oklahoma, and at whose funeral Hartz had delivered the eulogy.

Life and career

Hartz was born on February 3, 1940, in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

,Dustin O'Connor,
"Hartz, James L."
at

Oklahoma Historical Society The Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) is an agency of the government of Oklahoma dedicated to promotion and preservation of Oklahoma's history and its people by collecting, interpreting, and disseminating knowledge and artifacts of Oklahoma. ...

br>''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''
(retrieved June 18, 2009). and graduated from Tulsa Central High School in 1958. He then attended the University of Tulsa as a premed student, but after three years he decided to pursue journalism instead. Hartz first became a reporter for KOTV in Tulsa in 1962 and was promoted to news director in 1964, shortly before he joined NBC-owned

WNBC-TV WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City that serves as the flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey–licensed Telemundo s ...

in New York. At the age of 24, he was the youngest correspondent NBC had ever hired. There, he served as the anchor of the 6 o'clock and 11 o'clock nightly newscasts, where he remained until 1974, when NBC promoted him to ''Today'', following the death of McGee. During his tenure at the show, Hartz, along with Walters and correspondent Tom Brokaw, covered the resignation of President Richard Nixon. Hartz also covered the nation’s bicentennial celebration, as well as the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. Hartz' run with ''Today'' turned out to be brief;

Tom Brokaw Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American author and retired network television journalist. He first served as the co-anchor of Today (American TV program), ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anch ...

would take over from him in 1976, when Walters left for ABC. Hartz then went to

WRC-TV WRC-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Washington, D.C., serving as the market's NBC outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Class A television service, Class A Telemundo outlet W ...

in Washington, D.C., where he was an anchor until 1979. Throughout his career, Hartz earned five

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

and two Ace Awards for cable television. After leaving NBC, Hartz succeeded Hugh Downs as co-host of the PBS series ''Over Easy,'' sharing the program with Broadway actress, Mary Martin. He also hosted another public television program, ''Innovation,'' during the early 1980s. In the early 1990s, he co-anchored a weekly PBS-

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

joint venture news program, ''Asia Now,'' from

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. Hartz traveled to and from Japan over 30 times while filming this series. Hartz, who lived in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

, became chairman of the Will Rogers Memorial Commission in 1993 and is a member of the

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

Journalism Hall of Fame. Hartz has flown in a large number of military aircraft, including the SR-71, and was regarded as an

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial, and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astron ...

expert. His first major assignment was co-anchoring with David Brinkley during the sudden return of Gemini VIII on March 16, 1966. Hartz covered every manned flight after that from 1966 to 1976. Hartz died on April 17, 2022, at the age of 82, from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

References

External links

"Tulsa TV Memories" article on Hartz's days in Oklahoma
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartz, Jim 1940 births 2022 deaths American television news anchors NBC News people Writers from Tulsa, Oklahoma Central High School (Tulsa, Oklahoma) alumni Deaths from emphysema