Chet Huntley
Encyclopedia
Chester Robert "Chet" Huntley (December 10, 1911 – March 20, 1974) was an American television
newscaster, best known for co-anchoring NBC's
evening news program, The Huntley-Brinkley Report
, for 14 years beginning in 1956.
, Montana
, the only son and oldest of four children born to Percy Adams Huntley and Blanche Wadine (née
Tatham) Huntley. His father was a telegraph operator
for the Northern Pacific Railway
, and young Chet was born in Cardwell depot's living quarters. The family moved often, living in Cardwell, Saco
, Willow Creek
, Logan
, Big Timber
, Norris
, Whitehall
, and Three Forks
when he was a child.
He graduated from Whitehall High School in Whitehall
, and attended Montana State College
in Bozeman
, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon
fraternity
. He attended Cornish College of the Arts
in Seattle before graduating from the University of Washington
in 1934, with a degree in speech and drama.
, later working on radio stations in Spokane
(KHQ) and Portland
. In 1937 he went to work for KFI in Los Angeles
, moving to CBS Radio
from 1939–51, then ABC Radio from 1951-55. In 1955, he joined the NBC Radio network, viewed by network executives as "another Ed Murrow
."
In 1956, coverage of the national political conventions was a major point of pride for the fledgling broadcast news organizations. NBC News
executives were seeking to counter the growing popularity of CBS
' Walter Cronkite
, who had been a ratings success at the 1952 conventions. They decided to replace their current news anchor, John Cameron Swayze
, but there was a disagreement on who the new anchorman should be. The two leading contenders were Huntley and David Brinkley
. The eventual decision was to have both men share the assignment. Their on-air chemistry was apparent from the start, with Huntley's straightforward presentation countered by Brinkley's acerbic wit.
This success soon led to the team replacing Swayze on the network's nightly news program. It was decided to have the two men co-anchor the show; Huntley from New York City, Brinkley from Washington, D.C.
The Huntley-Brinkley Report
began in October 1956 and was soon a ratings success. Huntley and Brinkley's catchphrase closing of "Good night, Chet" - "Good night, David... and good night for NBC News" was developed by the show's producer, Reuven Frank
. Although both anchors initially disliked it, the sign-off became famous. Huntley and Brinkley gained great celebrity themselves, with surveys showing them better known than John Wayne, Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, or the Beatles. The gregarious Huntley remained the same, a friend commenting in 1968 that "Chet is warm, he's friendly, he's unaffected, he's--well, he's just so damned nice."
In April 1956, before that year's political conventions that brought him to prominence, Huntley began anchoring a new half-hour program entitled "Outlook," produced by Reuven Frank. The program aired for seven years, later changing its name to "Chet Huntley Reporting," and often covered racial segregation and civil rights. In January 1962, the program moved from the Sunday evening news time slot to prime time.
Huntley wrote a memoir of his Montana childhood, The Generous Years: Remembrances of a Frontier Boyhood, published by Random House
in 1968. He also became involved in a New York advertising agency, Levine, Huntley, Schmidt, Plapler & Beaver, gaining a 10 percent share in the agency in exchange for having his name on the letterhead and attending some agency meetings.
Huntley's last NBC News broadcast was aired on July 31, 1970. He returned to Montana
, where he conceived and built Big Sky
, a ski resort south of Bozeman
, which opened in December 1973.
in March 1974 at his home in Big Sky
at the age of 62, three days before the opening ceremonies for Big Sky. He is buried at the nearby Soldiers Chapel
. Boyne USA Resorts purchased the Big Sky Resort
in 1976 and has owned and managed it since.
(1920–94), the star of CBS's Cannon
detective
series.
, available on the DVD
The Dick Cavett Show: Rock Icons, Disc 2. On that broadcast, he described his political views as conservative on economic issues, but liberal on social issues. However, he insisted to Cavett and the other guests that he took pains to ensure that his personal views did not adversely affect his reporting during his years as a journalist.
In 2003, a biography titled Good Night Chet, by Lyle Johnston, was published by McFarland Publishers.
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
newscaster, best known for co-anchoring NBC's
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
evening news program, The Huntley-Brinkley Report
Huntley-Brinkley Report
The Huntley-Brinkley Report was the NBC television network's flagship evening news program from October 29, 1956 until July 31, 1970. It was anchored by Chet Huntley in New York City, and David Brinkley in Washington, D.C...
, for 14 years beginning in 1956.
Early life
Huntley was born in CardwellCardwell, Montana
Cardwell is a census-designated place in Jefferson County, Montana, United States. The population was 40 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Helena Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Cardwell is located at ....
, Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, the only son and oldest of four children born to Percy Adams Huntley and Blanche Wadine (née
NEE
NEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...
Tatham) Huntley. His father was a telegraph operator
Telegraphist
Telegraphist is an operator who uses the morse code in order to communicate by land or radio lines. Telegraphists were indispensable at sea in the early day of Wireless Telegraphy. During the Great War the Royal Navy enlisted many volunteers as Telegraphists. Telegraphists are also called Telegraph...
for the Northern Pacific Railway
Northern Pacific Railway
The Northern Pacific Railway was a railway that operated in the west along the Canadian border of the United States. Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific when former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in...
, and young Chet was born in Cardwell depot's living quarters. The family moved often, living in Cardwell, Saco
Saco, Montana
Saco is a town in Phillips County, Montana, United States. The population was 224 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Saco is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land....
, Willow Creek
Willow Creek, Montana
Willow Creek is a census-designated place in Gallatin County, Montana, United States. The population was 209 at the 2000 census. It is part of the 'Bozeman Micropolitan Statistical Area'.-Geography:Willow Creek is located at ....
, Logan
Logan, Montana
Logan is an unincorporated community in Gallatin County, Montana, United States.-History:Logan is situated on the Gallatin River and was established in 1889 as a railroad station on the Northern Pacific and Montana...
, Big Timber
Big Timber, Montana
Big Timber is a city in and the county seat of Sweet Grass County, Montana, United States. The population was 1,650 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Big Timber is located at ....
, Norris
Norris, Montana
Norris is a small unincorporated community in northeastern Madison County, Montana, United States, at the intersection of U.S. Route 287 and Montana Highway 84...
, Whitehall
Whitehall, Montana
Whitehall is a town in Jefferson County, Montana, United States. The population was 1,044 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Helena Micropolitan Statistical Area.Newscaster Chet Huntley graduated from Whitehall High School in 1929.-Geography:...
, and Three Forks
Three Forks, Montana
Three Forks is a city in Gallatin County, Montana, United States and is located within the watershed valley system of both the Missouri and Mississippi rivers drainage basins — and is historically considered the birthplace or start of the Missouri River. The population was 1,728 at the 2000 census...
when he was a child.
He graduated from Whitehall High School in Whitehall
Whitehall, Montana
Whitehall is a town in Jefferson County, Montana, United States. The population was 1,044 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Helena Micropolitan Statistical Area.Newscaster Chet Huntley graduated from Whitehall High School in 1929.-Geography:...
, and attended Montana State College
Montana State University - Bozeman
Montana State University – Bozeman is a public university located in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's land-grant university and primary campus in the Montana State University System, which is part of the Montana University System...
in Bozeman
Bozeman, Montana
Bozeman is a city in and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The 2010 census put Bozeman's population at 37,280 making it the fourth largest city in the state. It is the principal city of the Bozeman micropolitan area, which consists...
, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Sigma Alpha Epsilon is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is the only one founded in the Antebellum South...
fraternity
Fraternity
A fraternity is a brotherhood, though the term usually connotes a distinct or formal organization. An organization referred to as a fraternity may be a:*Secret society*Chivalric order*Benefit society*Friendly society*Social club*Trade union...
. He attended Cornish College of the Arts
Cornish College of the Arts
-Library:The library at Cornish College specializes in art, dance, design, music, performance production, and theatre. As of 2011 it holds 4700 CDs, 40,000 books, has 2,200 videos, and subscribes to 154 periodicals...
in Seattle before graduating from the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
in 1934, with a degree in speech and drama.
Career
Huntley began his radio newscast career at Seattle's KIRO AMKIRO (AM)
KIRO is a radio station based in Seattle, Washington on the shores of Lake Union with 2 towers on Maury Island, broadcasting on 710 kHz in the AM radio spectrum...
, later working on radio stations in Spokane
Spokane, Washington
Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region...
(KHQ) and Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
. In 1937 he went to work for KFI in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, moving to CBS Radio
CBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
from 1939–51, then ABC Radio from 1951-55. In 1955, he joined the NBC Radio network, viewed by network executives as "another Ed Murrow
Edward R. Murrow
Edward Roscoe Murrow, KBE was an American broadcast journalist. He first came to prominence with a series of radio news broadcasts during World War II, which were followed by millions of listeners in the United States and Canada.Fellow journalists Eric Sevareid, Ed Bliss, and Alexander Kendrick...
."
In 1956, coverage of the national political conventions was a major point of pride for the fledgling broadcast news organizations. NBC News
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
executives were seeking to counter the growing popularity of CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
' Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll...
, who had been a ratings success at the 1952 conventions. They decided to replace their current news anchor, John Cameron Swayze
John Cameron Swayze
John Cameron Swayze was a popular news commentator and game show panelist in the United States during the 1950s.- Early life :...
, but there was a disagreement on who the new anchorman should be. The two leading contenders were Huntley and David Brinkley
David Brinkley
David McClure Brinkley was an American newscaster for NBC and ABC in a career lasting from 1943 to 1997....
. The eventual decision was to have both men share the assignment. Their on-air chemistry was apparent from the start, with Huntley's straightforward presentation countered by Brinkley's acerbic wit.
This success soon led to the team replacing Swayze on the network's nightly news program. It was decided to have the two men co-anchor the show; Huntley from New York City, Brinkley from Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
The Huntley-Brinkley Report
Huntley-Brinkley Report
The Huntley-Brinkley Report was the NBC television network's flagship evening news program from October 29, 1956 until July 31, 1970. It was anchored by Chet Huntley in New York City, and David Brinkley in Washington, D.C...
began in October 1956 and was soon a ratings success. Huntley and Brinkley's catchphrase closing of "Good night, Chet" - "Good night, David... and good night for NBC News" was developed by the show's producer, Reuven Frank
Reuven Frank
Reuven Frank was an American broadcast news pioneer.Born in Montreal, Quebec, Israel Reuven Frank earned a bachelor's degree at City College of New York and a graduate degree in journalism from Columbia University...
. Although both anchors initially disliked it, the sign-off became famous. Huntley and Brinkley gained great celebrity themselves, with surveys showing them better known than John Wayne, Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, or the Beatles. The gregarious Huntley remained the same, a friend commenting in 1968 that "Chet is warm, he's friendly, he's unaffected, he's--well, he's just so damned nice."
In April 1956, before that year's political conventions that brought him to prominence, Huntley began anchoring a new half-hour program entitled "Outlook," produced by Reuven Frank. The program aired for seven years, later changing its name to "Chet Huntley Reporting," and often covered racial segregation and civil rights. In January 1962, the program moved from the Sunday evening news time slot to prime time.
Huntley wrote a memoir of his Montana childhood, The Generous Years: Remembrances of a Frontier Boyhood, published by Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
in 1968. He also became involved in a New York advertising agency, Levine, Huntley, Schmidt, Plapler & Beaver, gaining a 10 percent share in the agency in exchange for having his name on the letterhead and attending some agency meetings.
Huntley's last NBC News broadcast was aired on July 31, 1970. He returned to Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, where he conceived and built Big Sky
Big Sky Resort
Big Sky Resort is a ski resort located in southwestern Montana in Madison County, an hour south of Bozeman via U.S. Highway 191 in Big Sky.Opened in late 1973, Big Sky has grown over the last 35 years. Trademarked as the "Biggest Skiing in America" through the Biggest Skiing in America Pass,...
, a ski resort south of Bozeman
Bozeman, Montana
Bozeman is a city in and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The 2010 census put Bozeman's population at 37,280 making it the fourth largest city in the state. It is the principal city of the Bozeman micropolitan area, which consists...
, which opened in December 1973.
Death
Huntley died of lung cancerLung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
in March 1974 at his home in Big Sky
Big Sky, Montana
Big Sky is a census-designated place in Gallatin and Madison counties in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Montana. This unincorporated community straddles the two counties, is not considered a town, and has no town government. The primary industry of the area is tourism.Big Sky is...
at the age of 62, three days before the opening ceremonies for Big Sky. He is buried at the nearby Soldiers Chapel
Soldiers Chapel
Soldiers Chapel is a non-denominational Christian memorial chapel in Big Sky, Montana dedicated in 1955 by the Nelson Story family in tribute to a fallen family member of the 163rd Infantry Regiment. The regiment was part of the Montana National Guard during World War II. Open daily from Memorial...
. Boyne USA Resorts purchased the Big Sky Resort
Big Sky Resort
Big Sky Resort is a ski resort located in southwestern Montana in Madison County, an hour south of Bozeman via U.S. Highway 191 in Big Sky.Opened in late 1973, Big Sky has grown over the last 35 years. Trademarked as the "Biggest Skiing in America" through the Biggest Skiing in America Pass,...
in 1976 and has owned and managed it since.
Marriage
Huntley's first marriage, to Ingrid Rolin, produced two daughters and ended in divorce in 1959. Later that year, Huntley, at age forty-eight, married the former Tippy Stringer (1930–2010). After Huntley's death, Tippy married the widower William ConradWilliam Conrad
William Conrad was an American actor, producer and director whose career spanned five decades in radio, film and television....
(1920–94), the star of CBS's Cannon
Cannon (TV series)
Cannon is a CBS detective television series produced by Quinn Martin which aired from March 26, 1971 to March 3, 1976.The primary protagonist was the title character, Frank Cannon, played by William Conrad....
detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
series.
Legacy
Only days before his retirement, Huntley gave an interview with Dick CavettDick Cavett
Richard Alva "Dick" Cavett is a former American television talk show host known for his conversational style and in-depth discussion of issues...
, available on the DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
The Dick Cavett Show: Rock Icons, Disc 2. On that broadcast, he described his political views as conservative on economic issues, but liberal on social issues. However, he insisted to Cavett and the other guests that he took pains to ensure that his personal views did not adversely affect his reporting during his years as a journalist.
In 2003, a biography titled Good Night Chet, by Lyle Johnston, was published by McFarland Publishers.