Charles Osgood, the long-time host of CBS Sunday Morning on television and The Osgood File on radio, died on January 23 2024 at the age of 91. The cause was complications from dementia.
Charles Osgood was born Charles Osgood Wood III in the Bronx in New York City. He attended Fordham University. While there he volunteered at the college FM radio station, WFUV. Among his fellow students were Alan Alda and Jack Haley, Jr. After graduating from Fordham, he worked as an announcer at WGMS (AM) and WGMS-FM in Washington, DC. It was in 1954 that he met the announcer for the United States Army Band, who told him that he was getting out soon. Knowing that he would soon be drafted, Mr. Osgood then enlisted in the United States Army and then spent the next few years as the announcer for the United States Army Band. He was based out of Fort Myer in Virginia and would fill in as an announcer at WGMS when he went to Washington. When President Dwight D. Eisenhower had a heart attack, it was Charles Osgood who hosted a closed-circuit radio broadcast to President Eisenhower's hospital room.
It was while he was in the United States Army that he and his roommate, John Cacavas (who would later compose scores for television shows and movies), collaborated on various songs. Their composition "The Gallant Men" featured Senator Everett Dirksen of Illinois reading a patriotic poem by H. Paul Jeffers. It reached no. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100. It would later be used in the movie Easy Rider (1969).
After his service Charles Osgood returned to WGMS, as a full-time announcer, using his given name Charles Wood. The following year he became the station's program director. He provided introduction and commentary for a six-record album of a collection of thirty-three speeches by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt titled FDR Speaks. It was in April 1962 that RKO General, owner of WGMS, transferred Mr. Osgood to WHCT in Hartford, Connecticut where he would be the station's general manager. WHCT was an early subscription television service, so that subscribers needed a decoder to watch the station. As it turned out, WHCT was not a success and Charles Osgood was not a success.
Out of work, Charles Osgood contacted a former classmate from Fordham, Frank Maguire, who was in charge of program development for ABC in New York. He hired Charles Osgood as a co-host and writer for the ABC Radio program Flair Reports. To avoid confusion with radio announcer Charles Woods, Charles Osgood then began using his first and middle name, "Charles Osgood," professionally.
It was in 1967 that Charles Osgood moved to CBS Radio. He worked as a reporter and anchor at WCBS (AM). It as also in 1967 that The Osgood File began as a segment on WCBS. It went national in 1971. It was in 1971 that Charles Osgood made the move to television and joined CBS News. He served as the anchor on The CBS Sunday Night News from 1981 to 198. He served as co-anchor on The CBS Morning News and an occasional news reader on CBS This Morning. He served as the host of CBS News Sunday Morning from 1994 to 2016, the longest serving host in the show's history. It was in 2017 that he retired from The Osgood File due to health concerns. Over the years he contributed several stories to CBS News.
Charles Osgood served as the narrator on the animated movie Horton Hears a Who (2008). He wrote a syndicated news paper column for Tribune Media Services, as well as several books. He wrote a three-act play, A Single Voice, in 1956.
As a radio and television commentator, Charles Osgood was ideal. He was affable and eloquent, and even utilized verse from time to time. Whether on CBS News Sunday Morning or The Osgood File, he was able to deliver stories that would both entertain and educate viewers and listeners. What is more, he was a light in the often dark world of television and radio news. The stories he covered were upbeat and positive, covering everything from popular culture to the arts to everyday people. He was in many ways a bright light in the darkness of television and radio news, where bad news often outnumbers the good news. To borrow some words from his family's statement upon his death, Charles Osgood highlighted the better parts of humanity. He was a rarity during his career and, sadly, even more of a rarity now.
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