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Sam Donaldson

Sam Donaldson in 1998.
Born March 11, 1934 (1934-03-11) (age 75)
El Paso, Texas
Occupation panelist for ABC News Now
Spouse(s) Jan Smith

Samuel Andrew "Sam" Donaldson, Jr.[1] (born March 11, 1934) is a reporter and news anchor for ABC News, substitute anchoring the Sunday edition of World News Tonight for regular host Barry Serafin and later Carol Simpson, from dates in 1979 through the 1990s.

Contents

Biography

Early life and career

Donaldson was born in El Paso, Texas, the son of Chloe (née Hampson), a school teacher, and Samuel Andrew Donaldson, a farmer. He grew up in a small farming community in Chamberino, NM.[1] He attended New Mexico Military Institute as well as Texas Western College (now known as University of Texas at El Paso) where he served as station manager of KTEP, the campus radio station and joined the Kappa Sigma Fraternity.[2] From 1956 to 1959, Donaldson was an artillery officer in the United States Army.

Donaldson was a weekend anchor for WTOP-TV (currently WUSA-TV) in Washington, D.C., in 1966. He anchored the 6PM and 11PM Saturday and Sunday evening newscasts with John Douglas doing the weather forecasts.

ABC News

In 1971, Donaldson submitted reports for ABC News from Vietnam. He also appeared for a number of years as a panelist on the Sunday morning television talk show This Week with David Brinkley. After David Brinkley's retirement, Donaldson co-hosted the program for several years with Cokie Roberts.

He currently serves as a panelist on This Week along with Cokie Roberts and George Will, and co-hosts Politics Live on ABC News Now. One popular feature on Politics Live is the "Stump Sam" feature, in which viewers send in presidential trivia questions for Donaldson to answer. If Donaldson is stumped, the viewer who "stumped Sam" wins a free orange cap.

Donaldson was one of the hosts that was part of ABC Radio's news/talk network with his own show when it launched in 2001. He left the show several months later due to political disagreements.

Donaldson co-hosted the ABC live internet telecast of the funeral of Senator Edward Kennedy on August 28, 2009, providing commentary and retrospection of his political career on Capitol Hill covering the Kennedys for hundreds of millions of people, as the Kennedy procession headed to Arlington National Cemetery and the Senator was eulogized for the final time and laid to rest. By the time Mr. Donaldson had finished his commentary, the cemetery was dark and only the Kennedy Eternal Flame was visible. In a televised ABC News roundtable discussion on Senator Kennedy's legacy viewable online here at http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=8446966 Donaldson stated that Senator Kennedy should be judged on his political accomplishments which occurred after he lost the race for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States, which 'liberated' Kennedy from the 'monkey' of the past to concentrate his efforts exclusively on Senate matters in the most productive manner.

Bush confrontation

On August 2, 2006, during the last White House Press conference in the briefing room before undergoing major renovations, Donaldson shouted, "Mr. President, should Mel Gibson be forgiven?", referencing reports of the actor/producer's alleged anti-Semitic remarks. Mr. Bush laughed and looked up to see who had asked the question. Bush joked, "Is that Sam Donaldson? Forget it...you're a 'has-been'! We don't have to answer has-beens' questions."[3] Donaldson replied, "Better to have been a has-been than a never was."[4]

Career timeline

  • 1977-1989, January 1998-August 1999: ABC News Chief White House Correspondent[5]
  • 1979-1989: World News Sunday anchor[5]
  • 1981-1996, 2002-present: This Week panelist[5]
  • August 1989-1999: Primetime Live anchor[5]
  • December 1996-September 2002: This Week co-moderator[5]
  • 1998-2000: 20/20 anchor[5]
  • 1999-2001: SamDonaldson@abcnews.com host[5]
  • October 2001-May 2004: The Sam Donaldson Show -- Live in America host[5]
  • February 2009: Announces retirement from ABC.[6]

Personal life

In 1995, Donaldson had a melanoma removed from a lymph node. Since then, he and his wife, Jan Smith, have both been active supporters of cancer research.[7]

On July 5, 2004, three members of the family that had been tending to Donaldson's ranch in Hondo, New Mexico were found murdered. Cody Posey, a 14-year-old and sole remaining survivor of the family, was arrested and charged with the murders and subsequently convicted.[8]

Cultural references

  • The Animaniacs cartoon 'Broadcast Nuisance' features the Warners feuding with "Dan Anchorman," a caricature of Sam and Dan Rather. In the cartoon, Dan Anchorman shares camera time on NewsTime Live with "DuAnne Sewer," a reference to his stint on Primetime Live in the 1990s with Diane Sawyer.
  • In an episode of Road Rovers, when reporting from the United Nations, he and Blitz got into a fight after Blitz started chewing up Donaldson's toupee (which fell off his head), and refused to give it back.
  • He also makes an appearance in Celebrity Deathmatch, where he was pitted against Johnny Gomez and Nick Diamond, the commentators of the show.
  • Brian Dennehy, as police officer Frank Daly, in the 1990 movie The Last of the Finest refers to Sam Donaldson. Daly and two other officers are trying to gather evidence against one of the film's antagonists, Anthony Reece (Michael C. Gwynne) and gain entrance to a press conference by pick-pocketing a legitimate camera crew's press passes, and entering carrying a camcorder and microphone. Frank says, "Film at 11. I'll be Sam Donaldson".
  • In the DVD release of Kung Pow, there is a deleted scene where Steve Oedekerk dubs over himself singing about Sam Donaldson.
  • Doonesbury character Roland Hedley was inspired by the on-air style of Donaldson.[9]
  • In the original Image/WildStorm comic book WildC.A.T.s mini-series, the character of Voodoo points to a television screen and Lord Emp makes a sarcastic remark about Sam Donaldson being an evil space alien.

Quotes

Quotes by Samuel Andrew Donaldson

  • "A lot of people say there's a lot of ham in me."
  • "They laughed at me. I couldn't get a job. I went and I made the rounds, I met every news director and they thought I was awful."

Further reading

  • Donaldson, Sam (1987). Hold On, Mr. President!. Random House. ISBN 0-449-21520-2.  
  • Schmitt, Mark (March 2006). "Straight Line Projections". The Decembrist.  

References

  1. ^ a b http://www.filmreference.com/film/45/Sam-Donaldson.html
  2. ^ KTEP history
  3. ^ 08/02/2006 White House Press Conference transcript
  4. ^ Loven, Jennifer (2006-08-02). "Bush Makes Last Call at Briefing Room". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/02/AR2006080201451.html#. Retrieved 2008-02-05.  
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h ABC Medianet
  6. ^ Kurtz, Howard (February 16, 2009). "Sam Donaldson, Moving Out of Shouting Distance". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/15/AR2009021501862_pf.html.  
  7. ^ "Sam Donaldson Interview — page 9". Academy of Achievement. 1996-06-28. http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/don0int-9.  
  8. ^ Springer, John (2006-04-29). "Teen killer Cody Posey spared prison, sentenced to juvenile center". Court TV. http://www.courttv.com/trials/posey/022306_sentencing_ctv.html. Retrieved 2008-11-20.  
  9. ^ http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/faqs/faq_ch.html

External links

Preceded by
Unknown		 ABC News Chief White House Correspondent
1977 – 1989		 Succeeded by
Brit Hume
Preceded by
John Donvan		 ABC News Chief White House Correspondent
1998 – 1999		 Succeeded by
Terry Moran
Preceded by
David Brinkley		 This Week
December 15, 1996 – September 8, 2002		 Succeeded by
George Stephanopoulos
ABC Chief White House Correspondents
Sam Donaldson • Brit Hume • John Donvan • Terry Moran • Martha Raddatz • Jake Tapper







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