William R. Frink (31 July 1926 – 1 July 2005)Tom Rybarczyk. "WLS Sportscaster just a regular guy".

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

. July 8, 2005. was an American former

news presenter A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

. He served as the sportscaster for

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

's WLS-TV (an

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

-affiliate).

News career

Bill Frink started his career in 1941 at WTRC in Elkhart, Indiana, as a radio sports announcer while still in high school. Frink broadcast sports for WXLI Guam Armed Forces Network while serving with the U.S. Navy in 1946. Upon his return from

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

, Frink spent four years at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

on the

G.I. Bill The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...

. From 1947 to 1965, he was a radio and TV sports announcer for WEAW in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

, for WILA in Gurney, Illinois, for WSGW in

Saginaw, Michigan Saginaw () is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw and Saginaw County are both in the area known as Mid-Michigan. Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of Greater ...

, for WIMA in

Lima, Ohio Lima ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northwest Ohio along Interstate 75 in Ohio, Interstate 75 approximately north of Dayton, Ohio, Dayton, southwest of Toledo, Ohio, T ...

, for WHAS in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, for WCFL in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. For WCFL, he re-created White Sox games for radio broadcast from statistics provided on ticker tape machines. At WLS in 1968, Frink was teamed with

Fahey Flynn Fahey Flynn (August 6, 1916 – August 8, 1983) was a radio and television newscaster who spent the majority of his career in Chicago. Robert Feder of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' described him as "an avuncular Irishman with a jaunty bow tie nda twi ...

Joel Daly Joel Daly (August 21, 1934October 22, 2020) was an American news anchor, most known for serving as an anchor for WLS-TV (an ABC-affiliate) in Chicago, Illinois, for 38 years from 1967 to 2005. Daly served as co-anchor on the 4 pm news broadcast a ...

and John Coleman to form the Eyewitness News team, creating a news brand name and establishing a highly successful new local news format derisively dubbed "happy talk" by a local television columnist. This style of local news has been widely copied. The team dominated Chicago television news ratings for more than a decade. During his time at Chicago's WLS-TV, Frink was one of Chicago's most popular sportscasters, known for his sense of humor and knowledge of sports. In 1979, Frink spent ten weeks at

in New York before returning to Chicago to work for WGN Radio and TV until 1984. He then reported for KSTP Minneapolis hockey in 1983, Sports Time Cable in 1984,

Group W Cable The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndica ...

in 1986, Century Broadcasting in 1986, and Prime Cable in 1991. He retired from radio and TV in 1991 and taught broadcast journalism at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in his retirement. In 2018, Frink was posthumously honored with the prestigious Silver Circle Award given by the Chicago / Midwest chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS). It honors outstanding individuals who have devoted 25 years or more to the television industry and who have made significant contributions to Chicago broadcasting.

Personal life

Frink was born in 1926 in Elkhart, Indiana, the fourth child of a newspaper editor and teacher, Maurice Frink Sr., and Edith Raut Frink. He married Willa Allen Frink on March 20, 1949, and they had two daughters. Frink retired in 1991 to Evanston, Illinois, where he volunteered at the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian and the Reading Room of the Second Church of Christ, Scientist. He died in 2005.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frink, Bill Television anchors from Chicago Northwestern University alumni 1926 births 2005 deaths People from Evanston, Illinois Northwestern University faculty Journalists from Illinois 20th-century American journalists American male journalists