Longtime host of CBS News Sunday Morning Charles Osgood died of dementia Tuesday in his New Jersey home at 91, according to a report.
Born Charles Osgood Wood III in New York City, Osgood captured the admiration of his viewers throughout his nearly five decades at CBS until his retirement in 2016, reaching incredibly high ratings with Sunday Morning and capturing three Daytime Emmy Awards.
“For years now, people, even friends and family, have been asking me why I keep doing this considering my age,” Osgood said upon his retirement.
“It’s just that it’s been such a joy doing it,” Osgood said. “Who wouldn’t want to be the one who gets to introduce these terrific storytellers and the producers and writers and others who put this wonderful show together.”
Osgood’s interest in media began with listening to radio legends Edward R. Murrow and Lowell Thomas report during the Second World War.
His bow-tie-adorned career is remembered for his devotion to music, poetry, and incredible interviews, including those conducted with Julia Child, Keith Haring, Andrew Wyeth, Louise Nevelson, and Sting.
“To say there’s no one like Charles Osgood is an understatement,” Sunday Morning executive producer Rand Morrison said.
“He embodied the heart and soul of Sunday Morning,” Morrison said. “His signature bow tie, his poetry … just his presence was special for the audience and for those of us who worked with him. At the piano, Charlie put our lives to music. Truly, he was one of a kind – in every sense.”
Along with Sunday Morning, Osgood was featured on CBS Morning News, CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, and CBS Sunday Night News, and he was the host of the radio program The Osgood File.
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His presence in the media earned him a myriad of honors, including the Walter Cronkite Excellence in Journalism Award from Arizona State University, the National Association of Broadcasters Distinguished Service Award, the George Foster Peabody Award, four Emmy Awards, and another in 2017 for a lifetime of achievement, according to the report.
Osgood is survived by his wife Jean Crafton; children Kathleen Wood Griffis, Kenneth Wood, Anne-E Wood, Emily Wood, and Jamie Wood; brother Ken Wood; and sister Mary Ann Wood.
