John Francis Whitaker (May 18, 1924 – August 18, 2019) was an American sportscaster who worked for both CBS and ABC. Whitaker was a decorated army veteran of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He fought in the Normandy Campaign and was wounded by an artillery strike.

Biography

Early life and career

Whitaker was born and raised in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. After graduating from Northeast Catholic High School in 1941 and Saint Joseph's University in 1947, Whitaker began his broadcasting career at WPAM in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. In

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

, he moved to WCAU where he did local weather broadcasts as well as other local announcing duties. He continued to work for CBS' Philadelphia station while beginning to take assignments for the network.

CBS Sports

Whitaker entered network sports in 1961 at CBS, where he did play-by-play for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

of the NFL and hosted the anthology series '' CBS Sports Spectacular'' among other duties. He worked for CBS for more than two decades. Whitaker is probably best remembered for his coverage of

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

and

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

. He covered thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown Events, golf's four major championships, the first

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

, championship

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

, the National Professional Soccer League in 1967, the North American Soccer League a year later, and

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

. Whitaker was a studio host for '' The NFL Today'' at CBS, the network's pre-game show. Whitaker was banned from covering the Masters golf tournament for CBS after tournament chairman Clifford Roberts took offense when he said "Here comes the mob" in reference to the arrival of the gallery at the 18th hole of the Augusta National Golf Club at the end of a playoff in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

. Six years later he was invited by CBS to attend the

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

Masters as a spectator, but when Henry Longhurst became ill, he was asked to take over as telecaster, and he continued to telecast in the following years. With the death of Dick Enberg on December 21, 2017, Whitaker was the only living play-by-play announcer from the first 21 Super Bowls. He had been the only living television broadcaster from the first seven Super Bowls since the death of Frank Gifford on August 9, 2015.

ABC Sports and ABC News

Moving to ABC in 1982, Whitaker served as a reporter for both news and sports divisions. He was a part of ABC's sports team at the 1988 Winter Olympic Games, the 1984 Winter and

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

and the 1990 Little League World Series. He also reported sports for ABC's '' World News Tonight,

Nightline ''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News (United States), ABC News' Late night television in the United States, late-night television news program broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC in the United States with a franchis ...

,'' and '' 20/20.'' He retired from the network in 1993.

Death

Whitaker died on August 18, 2019, in Devon, Pennsylvania, during his sleep from natural causes.

Honors

Whitaker won three

Emmy Award 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 ...

s for Outstanding Host or Commentator in 1979, for writing in 1990 and the Lifetime Achievement award in 2012. The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia named Whitaker their Person of the Year in 1981 and inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 2003.

References

External links

American Sportscasters Association bio of WhitakerBroadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitaker, Jack 1924 births 2019 deaths American game show hosts American horse racing announcers American television reporters and correspondents American television sports announcers American soccer commentators American boxing commentators College football announcers Figure skating commentators American golf commentators Gymnastics broadcasters Major League Baseball broadcasters Military personnel from Philadelphia NBA broadcasters NFL announcers New York Giants announcers North American Soccer League (1968–1984) commentators Olympic Games broadcasters Television personalities from Philadelphia Philadelphia Eagles announcers Saint Joseph's University alumni Sports Emmy Award winners Tennis commentators American male journalists United States Army personnel of World War II Sportswriters from Pennsylvania United States Army soldiers