
CBS reported that Charles 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.”
He spent 45 years at CBS News before retiring in 2016. During his tenure, “Sunday Morning” reached some of its highest ratings levels in three decades, and earned the Daytime Emmy as Outstanding Morning Program on three different occasions.
“To say there’s no one like Charles Osgood is an understatement,” said Rand Morrison, the longtime executive producer of “Sunday Morning” in remarks given to CBS News. “He embodied the heart and soul of ‘Sunday Morning.’ His signature bow tie, his poetry … just his presence was special for the audience, and for those of us who worked with him.”
“CBS News Sunday Morning” will honor Osgood with a special broadcast on Sunday.