This article will answer every question you have about Charles Osgood. Below are some of the frequently asked questions about him.
- What does Charles Osgood do for a living?
- Who are Charles Osgood’s parents and siblings?
- What are Charles Osgood’s interests and hobbies?
- Is Charles Osgood married or does he have a girlfriend?
- Does Charles Osgood have any children?
- Where is Charles Osgood now?
- How tall is Charles Osgood?
- How much money does Charles Osgood earn?
- What is Charles Osgood’s net worth?
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Who is Charles Osgood?
Charles Osgood is an American retired radio and television commentator and writer. Osgood is best known for being the host of CBS News Sunday Morning, a role he held for over 22 years from April 10, 1994, until September 25, 2016.
Osgood also hosted The Osgood File, a series of daily radio commentaries, from 1971 until December 29, 2017. He is also known for being the voice of the narrator of Horton Hears a Who!, an animated film released in 2008, based on the book of the same name by Dr. Seuss. He published a memoir of his boyhood in 2004.
Charles Osgood’s Career
Early career
For the first dozen years of his career, except as noted below Osgood used his legal name professionally either as “Charles Wood” or as “Charles O. Wood.”
WFUV Radio
While attending Fordham, Osgood volunteered at the university’s FM campus radio station, WFUV. He often played piano between records on his shows and frequently collaborated with other students including future actor Alan Alda and future producer and director Jack Haley, Jr.
United States Army Band
Immediately after graduating from Fordham, Osgood was hired as an announcer by WGMS (AM) and WGMS-FM, the classical music stations in Washington, D.C. (today WWRC and WTOP-FM respectively). Shortly afterward, however, he enlisted in the military to be the announcer for the United States Army Band. In 1991, he explained this turn of events in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. Besides acting as the band’s master of ceremonies, he performed as a pianist with the band and sang with the United States Army Chorus.
WGMS Radio
When his tour with the U.S. Army Band was completed, in October 1957 Osgood returned to WGMS full-time as announcer Charles Wood and as a special assistant to the general manager. Before the end of 1958, WGMS promoted him to program director. In 1960, credited by name and as a WGMS announcer, he provided introductions and commentary on a six-record album of a collection of thirty-three speeches by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt titled FDR Speaks.
Edited by historian Henry Steele Commager, it included a welcome by the president’s widow, former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Their son Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jr. recited one of his father’s speeches. The Billboard magazine reported that FDR Speaks “was one of the most listened-to-attractions” at the 1960 Democratic National Convention which nominated senators John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson as its candidates for President and Vice President of the United States.
WHCT Television
In April 1962, the parent company of WGMS, RKO General, transferred Osgood to Hartford, Connecticut, and promoted him to his first job in television: the general manager of Channel 18, WHCT (WUVN today). WHCT was the first TV station in the United States to be licensed to use Phonevision, a system developed by Zenith that scrambled the station’s picture and sound. This limited viewing to paid subscribers who were issued decoders attached to their television sets and telephone lines.
The station offered its subscribers premium programmings such as first-run movies, live sporting events, and cultural programs like ballets and symphonies, all with no commercials. Although RKO expected to operate WHCT at a loss for the three years before the Federal Communications Commission was due to renew the station’s license, by early 1963 the financial realities became too difficult to bear unabated. In a 1985 interview with Broadcasting magazine, Osgood explained:
ABC
Unemployed at age 30, Osgood turned to one of his Fordham classmates, Frank McGuire, who directed program development at ABC in New York. In 1963 McGuire hired Osgood to be one of the writers and hosts of Flair Reports which related human interest stories on the ABC Radio Network. Another new McGuire hires for Flair Reports whom Osgood befriended at ABC was Ted Koppel.
Later career at CBS
Osgood moved over to CBS Radio in 1967 when it became clear, in his words, that he “wasn’t going anywhere” at ABC. He ended up working in both radio and television at CBS.
Radio
Osgood worked as a reporter and anchor for WCBS. In August 1967, he anchored the first-morning drive shift for WCBS after its conversion to an all-news format. The first day of all-news programming aired on WCBS-FM after an airplane crashed into the AM station’s antenna tower on New York’s High Island, keeping WCBS off air until a temporary tower could be erected.
Osgood was the host of Westwood One’s The Osgood File, heard four times each weekday morning drive time on radio stations nationwide. Each three-minute Osgood File focused on a single story, ranging from a breaking development of national importance to a whimsical human interest vignette. Some of those he did in rhyme, which is why he was known as CBS’s “Poet in Residence.” He continued these broadcasts until December 29, 2017.
Television
On television, Osgood joined CBS news in 1971. He was a reporter and served as anchor of the CBS Sunday Night News from 1981 to 1987, co-anchor of the weekday CBS Morning News and frequent newsreader on CBS This Morning from 1987 to 1992, as well as an occasional anchor of the CBS Afternoon News and the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather. In one of his best-known roles, he hosted CBS News Sunday Morning from April 10, 1994 to September 25, 2016, succeeding the original host Charles Kuralt. Osgood’s tenure of twenty-two years as host exceeded Kuralt’s fifteen years.
End of his broadcasting career
On December 21, 2017, it was announced that Osgood would retire from the radio show due to health concerns ending his broadcast career. His final broadcasts were on December 29, 2017.
How Old is Charles Osgood?
Osgood was born on January 8 1983 in the Bronx New York. He is currently 88 years old.
Charles Osgood‘s Family
Who are Charles Osgood’s parents?
Osgood’s parents were named Charles Osgood Wood II and Mary Osgood.
Does Charles Osgood have siblings?
Osgood has a younger sister named Mary Ann Osgood.
Charles Osgood‘s Education
Osgood attended St. Cecilia High School in Englewood, New Jersey. He later graduated from Fordham University in 1954 with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics.
Charles Osgood‘s wife
Osgood married Jeanne Crafton.
Charles Osgood‘s Children – Kids
Osgood has five children
Charles Osgood’s Net Worth
Osgood has an estimated net worth of $1.5 million.
Height/Measurements
Osgood stands at a height of 6 ft.
