Kelly Lange (born Dorothy Scafard; December 14, 1937) is an American journalist, most notable for being the first woman to be a nightly news anchor in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Lange, a Shakespeare major in college, is a longtime news anchor in Los Angeles, a veteran radio and TV news reporter, NBC talk show host, former

Tournament of Roses parade A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

co-host, and a best-selling mystery author.

Early career

Lange was born Dorothy Scafard in New York City"Entry: Dorothy Scafard"

1940 United States Census The 1940 United States census, conducted by the United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 132,164,569, an increase of 7.6 percent over the 1930 United States Census, 1930 population ...

and graduated from

Merrimack College Merrimack College is a Private university, private Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian university in North Andover, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1947 by the Order of St. Augustine with an initial goal to educate World War II veterans. It en ...

North Andover, Massachusetts North Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 30,915. History Native Americans inhabited what is now northeastern Massachusetts for thousands of years prior to European colonizati ...

."About: Kelly Lange"
''kelly-lange.com'' website (archived 2002)Weinstein, Steve

''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', June 17, 1995 She moved to California in the mid-1960s to pursue a certification to be a school teacher. One day in 1967, Lange, a model at the time, got into a line at a

Buena Park, California Buena Park (''Buena'', Spanish for "Good") is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census its population was 84,034. It is the location of several tourist attractions, including Knott's Berry Farm. It i ...

shopping mall, because it appeared "they were giving something away." The something they were giving away turned out to be applications for two positions as "Ladybirds" on KABC radio. The lucky duo would become the first female traffic/weather reporters in this area to patrol in helicopters. Lange was one of two chosen. She got the 6 a.m.-to-9 a.m. segment and she was called "Dawn O'Day." Another applicant, a film studio secretary named Lori Ross, got the afternoon shift as "Eve O'Day." "The two women in their tight-fitting, silver-lamé jumpsuits paved the way for today's less-exploited women deejays and announcers," thus began Lange's career as a news reporter, spotting news and reporting traffic for KABC. In June 1967, Lange appeared as a contestant on ''

What's My Line? ''What's My Line?'' is a Panel show, panel game show that originally ran in the United States, between 1950 and 1967, on CBS, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent American revivals. The game uses celebrity panelists ...

'' with

John Charles Daly John Charles Patrick Croghan Daly (February 20, 1914 – February 24, 1991) was an American journalist, host, CBS radio and television personality, ABC News (United States), ABC News executive, TV anchor, and game show host, best known for his wor ...

as host along with panelists

Bennett Cerf Bennett Alfred Cerf (May 25, 1898 – August 27, 1971) was an American writer, publisher, and co-founder of the American publishing firm Random House. Cerf was also known for his own compilations of jokes and puns, for regular personal appearanc ...

Barbara Feldon Barbara Feldon (born Barbara Anne Hall; March 12, 1933) is an American actress primarily known for her roles on television. Her most prominent role was that of Agent 99 in the 1965–1970 sitcom ''Get Smart''. Early life Feldon was born Barbar ...

Arlene Francis Arlene Francis (born Arline Francis Kazanjian; October 20, 1907 – May 31, 2001) was an American game show panelist, actress, radio and television talk show host. She is best known for her long-running role as a panelist on the television game ...

and

Martin Gabel Martin Gabel (June 19, 1911 – May 22, 1986) was an American actor, film director and film producer. Life and career Gabel was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Rebecca and Isaac Gabel, a jeweler, both Jewish immigrants. He married Arlen ...

. Her work with KABC Radio was the subject for the panel to guess.

Career

Lange started in March 1971 as a weather forecaster for KNBC's weeknight newscasts (known at the time as ''KNBC Newservice''), and later appeared on ''Sunday'', a weekly features program on the station which she co-hosted with

Tom Snyder Thomas James Snyder (May 12, 1936 – July 29, 2007) was an American television personality, news anchor, and radio personality best known for his late night talk shows '' Tomorrow'', on NBC in the 1970s and 1980s, and '' The Late Late Show'' ...

, Paul Moyer and Ralph Story. In December 1976 Lange was promoted to news anchor, and co-anchored KNBC's various weeknight news programs through December 1998 alongside Moyer,

Jess Marlow Myron Jess Marlow (November 29, 1929 – August 3, 2014) was an American journalist. He was best known for his work on television in Los Angeles, California, where he spent the bulk of his career. Early career Marlow began his television care ...

John Schubeck John Schubeck (March 18, 1936 – September 26, 1997) was an American television reporter and anchor, and one of the few to anchor newscasts on all three network owned-and-operated stations in one major market. Schubeck was born in Detroit, Mic ...

, Jack Perkins,

John Beard John Beard may refer to: * John Beard (artist) (born 1943), Welsh artist and painter * John Beard (colonial administrator) (died 1685), Chief Agent and Governor of Bengal * John Beard (embryologist) (1858–1924), Scottish embryologist and anatomis ...

Keith Morrison Keith Morrison (born July 2, 1947) is a Canadian broadcast journalist. Since 1995, he has been a correspondent for ''Dateline NBC''. Career Beginning his career in the 1960s, Morrison was a reporter and anchor at local stations in Saskatchew ...

, and

Chuck Henry Charles Robert Henry (born January 1, 1946) is a retired American journalist, who worked in the Greater Los Angeles media market for 48 years. He worked for nearly 29 years at KNBC, where he was a co-anchor of the 5, 6, and 11 p.m. newscasts, and ...

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

refers to Lange as the first woman to anchor a nightly newscast at an NBC-owned station. ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' said Lange was the first local newscaster to be paid $1 million per year. Lange also co-hosted NBC's network coverage of the

Tournament of Roses Parade A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

alongside

Michael Landon Michael Landon Sr. (born Eugene Maurice Orowitz; October 31, 1936 – July 1, 1991) was an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in ''Bonanza'' (1959–1973), Charles Ingalls in ''Little House on th ...

; was the regular guest host of '' Tomorrow'', with former KNBC colleague

; and a regular guest host of the ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'' show. She hosted the Grand Floral Parade of the

Portland Rose Festival The Portland Rose Festival is an annual civic festival held during the month of June in Portland, Oregon. It is organized by the volunteer non-profit Portland Rose Festival Foundation (named the Portland Rose Festival Association until the 2000s ...

and won several

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 ...

as well as serving as host of the primetime network broadcast ceremony. During the 1990-91 television season, Lange and screenwriter/TV producer

Gail Parent Gail Parent (born August 12, 1940) is an American television screenwriter, producer, and author. Life and career Parent was born Gail Kostner in New York City, New York, the daughter of Ruth (née Goldberg) and Theodore Kostner, a Wall Street ...

co-hosted the ''Kelly and Gail'' talk show which aired on KNBC-TV. Lange began writing fiction and mysteries while still a news anchor, partially to relieve insomnia from working on the 11 pm newscast. In 1999, Lange returned to television and joined

KCBS-TV KCBS-TV (channel 2), branded CBS Los Angeles, is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast of the United States, West Coast flagship station of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the n ...

to co-anchor the female-oriented newscast ''Women 2 Women'' alongside Catherine Anaya, Pamela Wright and former

KABC-TV KABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship station of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station mai ...

newscaster Ann Martin. She left broadcasting in 2001 and has since been a full-time mystery novelist. The popular mystery fiction books include ''The Reporter'', ''Dead File'', and ''Graveyard Shift'', featuring fictional TV news anchor Maxi Poole, plus ''Trophy Wife'' and ''Gossip''. In 2010, Lange was presented with the Golden Mike's Lifetime Achievement Award by the Radio and Television News Association of Southern California.

Personal life

Lange was married to film director

William Friedkin William David Friedkin (; August 29, 1935 – August 7, 2023) was an American film, television and opera director, producer, and screenwriter who was closely identified with the "New Hollywood" movement of the 1970s. Beginning his career in doc ...

(1987–1990). She has one daughter, Kelly Snyder, and three grandchildren.

References

External links

*
Author's website
(archived 2002) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lange, Kelly 1937 births American television news anchors Living people