FILE - Charles Osgood, anchor of CBS’s “Sunday Morning,” poses for a portrait on the set in New York on March 28, 1999. Osgood, who anchored the popular news magazine’s for more than two decades, was host of the long-running radio program “The Osgood File” and was referred to as CBS News’ poet-in-residence, has died. He was 91. (AP Photo/Suzanne Plunkett, File)
Plenty of Columbus residents lightheartedly donned bowties when the popular CBS Sunday Morning broadcast crew came to town in May 2011.
But well-known show host Charles Osgood, known for such a fastidious fashion statement for years, was different by design. He wore no bowtie on his first day here.
He sported an open collar and an open heart for all things Columbus.
Yet, he dressed himself in substantial respect for the city’s long-documented dedication to Modernist architecture — the reason for he and his crew’s visit as part of its annual design show at the time. And he spoke about that respect during an interview with The Republic at the Miller House, where the longtime, polished pianist — “my great vice” — sat at the keyboard and gently played.
Such memories resurface today because the veteran newsman with a flowing wit and whimsy and a penchant for rhyme died Tuesday at age 91. He was 78 when he came here for the segment that aired May 22, 2011.
Tourism numbers boomed after the airing that included such slice-of-life segment set-ups as part of the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic playing in First Christian Church in the background behind Osgood speaking about the church’s place in local design.
“If there is a failure to interest the audience here, the problem will be entirely ours (at CBS),” Osgood said in our interview. “Because you can’t help but be impressed.
“Columbus is unique. And by the way, I was trained to never use the word unique unless you absolutely mean alone in the universe.”
He seemed truly curious about the city’s commitment to creative modern design of everything from schools to churches.
“It’s so fascinating to me, because this is obviously a place where the sensibility of the great architecture has a strong sense of continuity, so that you can keep doing it.”
Osgood came off in person just as he did on camera — bright but homespun, personable, and sharply funny.
In the days following the national broadcast, Miller House tour bookings spiked. So did calls to the Columbus Area Visitors Center. Actually, the visitors center noted a dramatic spike in its internet traffic immediately after the program aired that day.
Lynn Lucas, then executive director of the visitors center, called it at the time “probably the biggest media coverage we’ve had.”
CBS reported that Osgood died Tuesday at his home in Saddle River, New Jersey, and that the cause was dementia, according to his family.
Osgood was an erudite, warm broadcaster with a flair for music who could write essays and light verse as well as report hard news. He worked radio and television with equal facility, and signed off by telling listeners: “I’ll see you on the radio.”
“To say there’s no one like Charles Osgood is an understatement,” Rand Morrison, executive producer of “Sunday Morning,” said in a statement. “He embodied the heart and soul of ‘Sunday Morning.’ … At the piano, Charlie put our lives to music. Truly, he was one of a kind — in every sense.”
“CBS News Sunday Morning” will honor Osgood with a special broadcast on Sunday.
Osgood took over “Sunday Morning” after the beloved Charles Kuralt retired in 1994. Osgood seemingly had an impossible act to follow, but with his folksy erudition and his slightly bookish, bow-tied style, he immediately clicked with viewers who continued to embrace the program as an unhurried TV magazine.
Osgood, who graduated from Fordham University in 1954, started as a classic music DJ in Washington, D.C., served in the Army and returned to help start WHCT in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1963, he got an on-air position at ABC Radio in New York.
In 1967, he took a job as reporter on the CBS-owned New York news radio station NewsRadio 88. Then, one fateful weekend, he was summoned to fill in at the anchor desk for the TV network’s Saturday newscast. In 1971, he joined the CBS network and launched what would be known as “The Osgood File.”
In 1990, he was inducted into the radio division of the National Association of Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame. In 2008, he was awarded the National Association of Broadcasters Distinguished Service Award. He won four Emmy Awards, and earned a fifth lifetime achievement honor in 2017.
Jane Pauley succeeded Osgood as host of “Sunday Morning,” becoming only the third host of the program.
When he retired in 2016 after 45 years of journalism, Osgood did so in a very Osgood fashion.
“For years now, people — even friends and family — have been asking me why I continue doing this, considering my age,” the then-83-year-old Osgood said in brief concluding remarks. “It’s just that it’s been such a joy doing it! It’s been a great run, but after nearly 50 years at CBS … the time has come.”
And then he sang a few wistful bars from a favorite folk song: “So long, it’s been good to know you. I’ve got to be driftin’ along.”
— The Associated Press contributed to this story.
