Maurice James "Mac" McGarry (June 15, 1926 – December 12, 2013) was the longtime host of the television quiz show '' It's Academic'', which airs in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

-owned

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 ...

. He hosted the show for five decades, from October 7, 1961, when it first aired, until June 25, 2011.

Early life and career

Born in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, in 1926, McGarry attended Regis High School in New York City and attended college at

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

. McGarry joined NBC in 1950, working for station WNBW, located in the Wardman Park Hotel. There he worked as the announcer for the NBC radio show ''American Forum of the Air''. During this time, he was also making his first forays into television covering

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

's presidential inauguration events for NBC-TV and appearing regularly on NBC's ''The Big Preview''. From that time until the onset of illness in 2011, he hosted numerous talk shows, including ''In Our Town'', the first weekly television program to be broadcast in color. Some of McGarry's first assignments included announcing news of the start of the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

and introducing President Truman from the White House. In the early 1950s, he was involved in early color television experiments. During the 1970s and 1980s, he was the

announcer An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience on a broadcast media programme or live event either on radio or television. Television and other media Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaki ...

for '' NBC News Updates'' originating in Washington, D.C., and over the years also did live booth announcing work for WRC-TV.

Later years, retirement and death

In September 2011, McGarry temporarily took a leave of absence when he was suffering from a lingering cold. Hillary Howard, a news anchor for

WTOP-FM WTOP-FM (103.5 FM) – branded "WTOP Radio" and "WTOP News" – is a commercial all-news radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, the station serves the Washington metropolitan area, extending its reac ...

, began filling in for him. Although McGarry's intentions were to continue hosting the 51st season of '' It's Academic'', he announced his retirement in early November 2011 due to health issues. Howard subsequently continued on as the permanent host. McGarry died of complications from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

on December 12, 2013, aged 87, at his home in

Potomac, Maryland Potomac () is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 47,018. It is named a ...

, and was survived by his wife, Babette, and their four children.

Awards

McGarry was a charter member of the

National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), also known as the National Television Academy until 2007, is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of televisio ...

' (NATAS) Silver Circle. Other honors include: *

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 ...

for Outstanding Individual Achievement * Several Mass Media Awards from the

American Association of University Women The American Association of University Women (AAUW), officially founded in 1881, is a non-profit organization that advances Justice, equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. The organization has a nationwide Social net ...

* The Board of Governors Award from the DC chapter of NATAS * The America's Role Model 2004 Award from the Olender Foundation *

Marymount University Marymount University is a Private university, private Catholic university with its main campus in Arlington County, Virginia, United States. It was founded as Marymount College in 1950. Marymount offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degre ...

conferred the degree Doctor of Humane Letters, ''honoris causa'', on McGarry in recognition of his commitment to academic excellence, encouragement of young scholars, and outstanding dedication to his profession and community.

References

External links

*
Mac McGarry radio credits
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGarry, Mac 1926 births 2013 deaths American game show hosts American television talk show hosts NBC network announcers Deaths from pneumonia in Maryland Television personalities from Atlanta Fordham University alumni People from Potomac, Maryland Regis High School (New York City) alumni