Jim Hartz

Jim Hartz (born 1940) was an American television personality during the mid- and late-1970s. Hartz became best known to a national audience for a two-year stint as the co-host of the "Today Show," along with Barbara Walters. Hartz replaced Frank McGee.

Hartz first became a reporter for KOTV in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1962 and was promoted to news director in 1964, shortly before he joined NBC-owned WNBC-TV in New York as anchor of its late evening newscast, where he remained until 1974, when NBC promoted him to "Today." His run turned out to be relatively brief; future "NBC Nightly News" anchor Tom Brokaw would take over from him in 1976, when Walters left for ABC. Hartz then went to WRC-TV in Washington, D.C., where he was an anchor until 1979.

After leaving NBC, Hartz succeeded Hugh Downs as co-host of the PBS series "Over Easy," sharing the program with Broadway legend Mary Martin. He also hosted another public television program, "Innovation," during the early 1980s. In the early 1990s, he co-anchored a weekly PBS-NHK joint venture news program, "Asia Now," from Tokyo, Japan.

Hartz, who resides in Alexandria, Virginia, became chairman of the Will Rogers Memorial Commission in 1993, is a member of the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame, and is regarded as an aerospace expert.

External links

* [http://tulsatvmemories.com/hartz.html "Tulsa TV Memories" article on Hartz's days in Oklahoma]