On Jan. 6, 1980, she married Mel Korn, a Philadelphia advertising executive. He too battled addiction. [1] Savitch began feeling anxious about her job and showed signs of emotional instability. Tom Brokaw, the anchor of ''The NBC Nightly News,'' said: ''She was a dedicated, hard-working broadcaster who felt very strongly that women should have a more active role in the profession.'' She also hosted PBS's public affairs program Frontline from its January 1983 debut until her death as a passenger in an automobile accident later that year.[1]. Isadora Duncan! In order to counter criticism that she had been hired for her looks and promoted ahead of skilled journalists, NBC also assigned her to do reporting work, including a brief stint as U.S. Senate correspondent. Biography Jessica Beth Savitch was born February 1, 1947, in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. In the early 1980s, with cable in its infancy andnetwork anchors dominating the airwaves,one of the most identifiable, and beloved, was NBCs Jessica Savitch. Savitch went on to bethefirst woman to anchor a weekend newscast for NBC, and perhaps was best known for her highly-visible primetimenews capsule updates. Her first marriage, to Mel Korn, a Philadelphia advertising executive, ended in divorce after less than one year. That should have been determined murder or man slaughter at the very least he killed her and didnt report it what if she could have been saved. Up Close and Personal was originally intended as a biographical film about Savitch. As for Jessica, I couldnt even begin to describe how messed up she was toward the end. Add mine to the thanks for this article. They resumed production of the Oldsmobile, but have not manufactured the Pontiac for several years. She also had been a substitute anchor on NBC's "Today" and "Tomorrow" shows, and was a member of the panel of reporters on "Meet the Press.". Results were expected in several days. Savitch and Fischbein were trapped inside as water poured in. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Always loved these A/G body station wagons and finding a good one that hasnt been ruined or chopped up is rare today. On the long-form TODAY show piece, which aired almost exactly thirty . So many possibilities lost. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. She had a pet husky named Chewy the doctor hated. . The Philadelphia area native left a highly acclaimed acting career to marry Prince Rainier of Monaco. Then it is a car story.unless they had head injuries why couldnt they breath long enough lay on the horn if the mud sealed the doors shut ..was this a mud slidewhat else is in that mud ..and lets be clear..the only reason she is picked apart is because she wasnt a guy..probably also the reason she wasnt drivingi guess they leave the dog in the car at restaurants seems like the window would have been cracked open ..cracked open! Trim and upholstery durability was much improved but the bodies were twisty and creaky and mechanically they were rubbish. There are stories on these pages that have a sadness to them. The car she was in as a passenger in the accident rolled down the canal in heavy rain and drowned there. Unfortunately rust would render them un-watertight and un-liftable in fairly short order. American Brands: AMC, Jeep and All Others, Tractors, Lawn Mowers, Off-Road Equipment. The car, apparently driven by Fischbein, ran off the road, overturned and plunged into the Delaware canal, where it became lodged in '3 feet of mud and ooze beneath 5 feet of water,' Rosko said. Her father was of Slavic Jewish heritage and her maternal grandfather was of German and Russian Jewish heritage. Savitch's flawed delivery fueled speculation that she was using drugs, specifically cocaine. Lifes struggles are definitely more important than a character line along the side of a car and what someone else might think about it. [10] Another 1982 poll named her the "sexiest" female anchor in the country. ''It looked like they tried to kick the doors open but they couldn't.'' In this photo shes roughly 35. Thoughts? The last few moments of these folks lives must have been a living hell. A common thread has emerged in the comments on this article that leads back to my opening statement. Last week marked the 30-year anniversary of her tragic death in a car accident at the age of 35 (Jessica Savitch Remembered). On October 3, 1983, during an NBC News Digest segment, Savitch was largely incoherent on the air, slurring her speech, deviating from her script and ad-libbing her report. I found the story interesting. After her death, her family filed an insurance suit against New York Post, who had insured the car Fischbein was driving at the time of their death. Heres a new idea for the New Year at CC: Paul, what if articles that are say 90 per cent complete but could use some constructive input and suggestions from the experts here are noted in the opening paragraph a Curbside Collaboration ? This one fits quite nicely within the broad array presented on CC. When management failed to act, Ellerbee and other correspondents had tried to reach out to Savitch, who died before anything could be done. Yes this may be about Jessica Savitch but its interesting how she met her endnot in a Mercedes or Beemer but a modest-by-comparison G-Body Olds. Oct. 25, 1983 Jessica Savitch killed in car wreck By MARIANNE LAVELLE NEW HOPE, Pa. -- NBC newscaster Jessica Savitch, whose professional triumphs and personal tragedies were documented in. I think that is what you aimed to do here. Both biographers also write that Savitch had a problem with cocaine that eventually affected her career. The Philadelphia Daily News reported one lawyer said the New York Post, whose insurance covered the leased station wagon in which Miss Savitch died, paid $7 million of the settlement. In 1969, after receiving her bachelor's degree, she was hired as a researcher for CBS radio. [4], Savitch's second marriage in March 1981 to Dr. Donald Payne, her gynecologist, lasted only a few months. The car was found about an hour, hour and a half after the accident. This is about Jessica Savitch, not so much about a car. She soon began to anchor noon news broadcasts as well, and eventually became part of a popular team of three anchors with Mort Crim and Vince Leonard on the 11:00pm news. His apparent suicide came less than five months after their marriage and several months after Ms. Savitch suffered a miscarriage. [16][17] In the early 1970s, while she was working for CBS in New York City, Savitch also had a romantic relationship with CBS News journalist Ed Bradley, who was then a WCBS radio reporter. October 25, 1983. However, she blamed the problems on a teleprompter malfunction, while her agent said it was due to the effects of pain medication in relation to recent facial reconstructive surgery following a boating accident. Jessica Savitch seemed to have the world at her fingers. Savitch got along well with some members of the KYW staff, including her regular location shooting crew[9] and her co-anchor Mort Crim. CRACKED .. open..R,I,P, Your email address will not be published. . Finally, I really hate to say this: this kind of story is NOT what I come to Curbside Classics for. [12][18], According to her biographers Blair and Nash, Savitch was a driven perfectionist who constantly battled insecurities about her appearance and ability, suffered from social anxiety, and tended to isolate herself from network colleagues. At KHOU she was hailed as the first anchorwoman in the South (although that would be contested). There had not been time to view the film prior to its broadcast, and Savitch had to improvise her narration while viewing the graphic film for the first time. The car was found upside down in about four feet of water early yesterday, a member of the Lambertville, N.J., rescue squad said. The 1996 feature film Up Close and Personal starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert Redford was very loosely based on her life. Jessicas time at NBC was filled with uncertainty, and with the uncertainty came drug use. Posthumously, Savitch became the subject of two biographies and a television film, Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story, as well as television documentaries. Probably wouldnt have made any difference. If she had to ad lib more the better no safety net for Jessica She was a great colleague, always quick with a kudo and always asking a keen question to learn a bit more than what her 30-second lead-in copy offered the viewers., Former NBC Newser Linda Ellerbee: Her death was a tragic accident. Mr. Fischbein, 34, who lived in Woodmere, N.Y., had worked for the New York Post since 1978. I agree with Wolfgang that this is a very somber, sad story. Seems coincidental that Savitch died the very night immediately preceding the day she was scheduled to have an intervention for her spiraling out-of-control behavior. She was made Senate correspondent but she was in over her head. She worked in Houston for KHOU-TV, then spent five years at the NBC affiliate in Philadelphia, KYW-TV, where she was a general assignment reporter and coanchor, before joining the network in 1977. Friends say this started a long, dark spiral that ended with her death. Ms. Savitch (NOT Savage as some have called her) was in the back seat with her dog. From then until her death in October 1983, Savitch's only regular appearances on NBC were on the NBC News Digest segments. She also had served on its board of trustees. Raynes declined to disclose terms of the settlement Wednesday, but KYW-TV in Philadelphia reported that the agreement totaled more than $8 million, equal to what Miss Savitchs lifetime earnings would have been. Ms. Savitch's colleagues expressed shocked over her death. While some of Savitch's colleagues said they had seen evidence of drug use, other friends and associates expressed skepticism that she had a drug problem. They aged well. The reputation followed her to NBC. I remember her well, and as an aside her younger sister Lori worked at WPXI TV in Pittsburgh as a local anchor in the early 1990s. [30][31], The second, Golden Girl: The Story of Jessica Savitch (Dutton, 1988) by Alanna Nash, became the basis of the 1996 theatrical film Up Close & Personal starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert Redford. Whether the car landed upside down or right side up, the thick mud made opening ANY door/tailgate pretty much impossible. It ended when Payne, who had substance abuse problems of his own and suffered from depression, died of suicide by hanging in their Washington, D.C. She also contributed to ''Prime Time Saturday'' and ''Prime Time Sunday,'' NBC news magazines. (Crim delivered the eulogy at her memorial service after her death.) Classic Cars of Infamy. Impressed with her performance, NBC offered her a three-year contract starting in September 1977 as a Washington, D.C. correspondent and anchor. the Ultimate Violation,'' in which she spent two weeks working as a decoy with a police undercover unit. . By Niruta Rai April 25, 2023. Its limo dreams in a station wagon reality. were in doubt AND this is a website about cars and their owners. In fact I thought the story reminds me of checking my priorities. Istill miss her., NBCs Tom Brokaw: It was such a sad, even tragic ending, to a life that was the classic American success story. Jessica Beth Savitch (February 1, 1947 October 23, 1983) was an American television journalist who was the weekend anchor of NBC Nightly News and daily newsreader for NBC News during the late 1970s and early 1980s. She was the first female disc jockey in the Pleasantville area. Soare you saying 2 adults and a dog died in 4 feet of mud? She was married in 1981 to Dr. Donald R. Payne, an obstetrician- gynecologist, but five months later she discovered her husband dead in their home, an apparent suicide. Ellerbee said that a network vice president responded, "We're afraid to do anything. 50 Insanely Gruesome Photos Of The Human Body From Actual Autopsies. Ms. Savitch, who rose to a $500,000-a-year job at NBC by the time she was 33, found her second husband, Dr. Donald Rollie Payne, hanged in the basement of their Washington home in August 1981. Thirty-one years ago today, broadcast journalist Jessica Savitch died in a freak drowning accident in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The more things change, the more they stay the same. In June 1983, NBC removed Savitch from her regular Saturday evening anchor slot and replaced her with Chung, who also accepted the Early Today position that Savitch had rejected. Philadelphia viewers responded enthusiastically to her on-camera presence, which was perceived as "magical" and triggering an "almost emotional bond" with the audience. [29] When first aired, Almost Golden earned the second-highest rating ever for a cable television film up to that point. Some of the money was used to establish scholarships for women studying for careers in broadcasting or journalism at Ithaca College and other institutions. Stay calm, lower a window (if lower-able) float thru. Since last summer, when Connie Chung took her place as the anchor on the Saturday ''Nightly News,'' she had delivered the network's weekday news updates. Her awards included an Emmy, a Columbia-Dupont Award, the National Women in Communications' Clarion Award, and the Commission on Working Women's Special Commissioner's Award for Excellence as a News Reporter. He was a prominent figure in town. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. I was walking down the street and saw this wino who was eating grapes. This woman [Savitch] is in trouble." Miss Savitch was in the back seat, Mr. Everett said, and Mr. Fischbein was in a seat belt at the wheel. Miss Savitch, who had earned a degree in communications from Ithaca College, had been awarded an honorary doctorate by that institution. However, the plot of the movie was substantially changed to become a love story quite different from Savitch's life. Her mother was a nurse and had to go to work to support the family. KYW producer Cliff Abromats stated, She [Savitch] was very good on her feet. One year later, news anchor Jessica Savitch lost her own life in a car accident in Bucks County. In 1976, she came to the attention of NBC executives while reporting from a presidential campaign debate between President Gerald Ford and Democratic nominee Jimmy Carter held at Philadelphia's Walnut Street Theatre. ''At last I felt that I belonged.''. And, of course, she knew it and let the superstar thing take over her life. The article prompted my to look her up and read her quite compelling story. He was lighting a cigar! Starting Monday she was to become anchor of 'NBC News Digest,' and in January she was to anchor the Sunday editions of 'Nightly News.'. With some cosmetic changes, the Cutlass wagons puttered well into the 90s. An NBC spokesman said the two were engaged. Technical Audio Producer (Part-Time Contract)Bloomberg LPNew York, New York, Remembering Jessica Savitch, 30 Years After Her Death, An error has occurred, please try again later. . Notify me of follow-up comments by email. I do remember this accident being in the news. Mary Jo Kopechne was another young woman born in Pennsylvania, who met an infamous end in an Oldsmobile under water. One more thing-I remember the week she died as being a big week for news; first the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, and then the Great Big Battle of Grenada. CC has very high standards on the automotive details, so that is my only beef with it. Not an ad. According to Nash and John Gregory Dunne (who worked on the screenplay and wrote the book Monster: Living Off the Big Screen about the making of the film), this was because the filmmakers, including The Walt Disney Company that was financing the film, considered Savitch's life story too downbeat to be popular at the box office. She came back to DC after anchoring the weekend news in New York and found her husband hanging from her dogs leash in the basement. Thankfully, our attitudes toward substance abuse are becoming more and more enlightened over time. RIP Jessica ~ stylish to the end. I remember Jessica Savage. Compared to the man, the ad was full of taste. In all the articles Ive read, it just refers to an Oldsmobile station wagon and Im not well-versed on the interiors, especially after they have been upside-down and underwater for a few hours. Savitch died three weeks later by drowning when a car in which she was a passenger was accidentally driven into a canal during a heavy rainstorm. That line is awkwardly worded. Both states have laws that make you ask: what in the heck were they thinking. In Tennessee, ANYONE, NO MATTER THEIR AGE, must provide proof of legal age when purchasing beer. Since we are visiting a place where political correctness really was moot, Id like to mention its refreshing to see a womans name on the byline here. Her success influenced numerous aspiring female newscasters to model themselves after her look and delivery. 1982 was the first year Oldsmobile spun Cutlass off into its own marque. Maybe call the series Curbside Tragedies. And R.I.P Oldsmobile. Jessica Hollifield, who used to reside in Lexington, North Carolina, passed away unexpectedly. IncidentallyI found a TV movie of her life based on her book featuring Sela Ward playng Jessica. Bucks County coroner Thomas Rosko ruled late yesterday that both victims died of drowning.He said it appeared that Miss Savitch had made some attempt to get out of the Oldsmobile station wagon, but that Mr. Fischbein was found strapped into the driver's seat. [11], Savitch was married twice and had no children. Wiki and People did a better job reporting this.but they didnt have to find a way to make the car a killer. Savitch was one of the first women to anchor an evening network newscast solo, following in the footsteps of Marlene Sanders of ABC News and Catherine Mackin of NBC News. Katz a tip, email him, The Jessica Savitch Distinguished Journalism Lecture Series, Technical Audio Producer (Part-Time Contract). If she were alive today, Id tell her what I should have said to her back then: that she was a good human being, a talented woman, whose fame was no accident. While Miss Savitch attended Ithaca College in upstate New York, she worked as a disk jockey at radio station WBBF-AM in Rochester. ''It was raining, the weather was bad,'' Mr. Everett said. [20][32][33] Many reviews of the movie discuss how the film departed, probably for commercial reasons, from Savitch's actual biography. She deserved it So hard to believe shes been gone 30 years., Lori Savitch, one of Jessicas twosisters, and the force behind www.jessicasavitch.com: Gender-based discrimination wasnt the only hurdle Jessica faced in pursuit of a broadcast journalism career. She graduated from Ithaca College in 1968. Today, the choices are so great and the distribution of content so diverse the messenger is not in the spotlight to be idolized or scrutinized like they were back then. That happened right after the first of the Ted Kennedy comments! It *IS* a Car Story ~ a sad one to be sure but also a truthful cautionary tale . No drugs and very little alcohol were present in her system at the time of her death. She could think fast and ask the right questions, and she had the ability so many lack, to actually listen to the answer. In 1969, Savitch was hired as an administrative assistant at WCBS, the CBS Radio flagship news station in New York City, where she also did freelance production work. Required fields are marked *. She was offered the anchor position for an early-morning news program Early Today but turned it down. the Ultimate Violation", won a Clarion Award for excellence from Women in Communications, Inc. By 1979 she was demoted from the Senate assignment due to poor performance. After her death, two posthumous biographies were written about her. I wonder if she attempted to to get out of the car through the rear windows, only to discover that they dont roll down. National Lampoon (magazine), the original humor magazine from 1970 to 1998-wikipedia. At KYW in Philadelphia, she carved a stylish, hard-hitting niche with flawless looks, tough talk and in depth stories. And with all due respect, Elizabeth Vargas does NOT seem to suffering similar problems. Shes getting help. Early on Aug. 2, 1981, a few months after she suffered a miscarriage, Miss Savitch returned from New York to find her husband hanging unconscious in the basement of their home. This wagon was officially known as a Cutlass Cruiser, until it morphed into a Ciera a few years later.. She . [4][19][20] These assertions were disputed by Savitch's family and some of her friends after her death. Tragic story. [citation needed] Shortly before she left KYW, Savitch exploded in an angry tantrum during a commercial break because the pages of her news script had been provided out of order. The passenger side dash vent looks like an A-body Olds, definitely not the rather unusual B/C body Olds dash vent. I am not posting this to insult the memory of the late Ms. Savitch (whom I personally admire), however I do believe it. Before that, he had spent seven years as an assistant to labor mediator Theodore Kheel, and had been an aide to Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) when the senator was an aide in the Nixon White House. I think of what might have been. According to astrology, she had Aquarius as her zodiac sign. NBC's Jessica Savitch reports on the death of Princess Grace Kelly, following injuries sustained in a car accident in 1982. She held a variety of posts at NBC, including those of general assignment reporter, Senate correspondent, and principal writer-reporter for Saturday editions of "NBC Nightly News." To send TVNewser senior editor A.J. Miss Savitch was born on Feb. 1, 1948, at Kennett Square, Pa. Affiliates agreed to run the NBC News Update segments largely because she would be presenting them. There used to be people called winos, but I guess theyre all extinct now. Savitch later became the first woman to anchor the weeknight edition of NBC Nightly News, periodically substituting for the regular anchors John Chancellor and David Brinkley. Cant remember the last time I saw one. I dont remember really listening to NBC news much. Investigators said Fischbein, 34, mistakenly drove the car onto the towpath thinking it was an exit. At that point the former rear-wheel-drive A-body was renamed the G-body. NBC News president Reuven Frank said she served as "an example for many young women looking for a career in television journalism, as a symbol of the gradual disappearance of the obstacles to women in broadcast journalism.". She continued as host until her death later that year, at which time Judy Woodruff took over as host. Rosko said he could not determine the time of death, but a watch found in Fischbein's coat pocket stopped at 9:55 p.m. 'I would say both victims died within one or at most a very few minutes after the car entered the canal,' he said. Death by Station Wagon: The Fall of Jessica Savitch By Lynne Vogt - Posted on December 31, 2014 At the height of her fame she was known for Gucci belts, Halston dresses, piles of cocaine, penthouses and pills. When it would have been much simpler to just not read it. [23], Savitch's family and a group of her friends later sued the New York Post (whose insurance covered the leased car Fischbein was driving), Fischbein's estate, Chez Odette, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for damages in Savitch's death. His death was ruled a suicide. Am I the only one who noticed the Burberry trench coat, muddied and soaked on the passenger seat? The lawsuit was scheduled to go to trial in Philadelphia next week before Common Pleas Judge Bernard J. Goodheart. The station wagon plunged 15 feet into the mud and shallow water of the canal, landing on its roof. Jessicas trauma and drug abuse kept her from doing the same. When Savitch arrived at KHOU, she was the only female working in the news department other than one secretary and faced a work environment hostile to females, although some male colleagues did help her learn the basics of her job. [20] The television film was criticized for omitting or downplaying controversial aspects of Savitch's life and career that were discussed at length in Blair's book. YepDads was an 83 Bonneville which he drove into the groundwell into the 90s. Jessica, its nice to see others besides me remember her. There was no sign alcohol contributed to the crash in which Ms. Savitch, 35, and her close friend, New York Post executive Martin Fischbein, 34, died late Sunday, Dr. Thomas Rosko, Bucks County coroner, said. At the time KYW hired Savitch, it was under pressure from the Philadelphia chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) to place more women in then-non-traditional roles on the local news or else face a possible legal challenge to its broadcast license. NEW HOPE, Pa. -- Television anchorwoman Jessica Savitch, whose life was marred by recent personal tragedy, was found dead Monday along with a New York Post executive in an overturned car at the . (The article title should not change; this might cause a disturbance in the permalink universe). . He had the two Cutlasses and the Pontiac Bonneville version. According to Bradley, after the relationship ended they continued to have a "non-romantic, social, and professional relationship" until her death. But it all came to an end on a rainy autumn nightin 1983, when the car Savitch was in plunged into a Bucks County, Pennsylvania canal, killing her and the cars driver, 34-year-old Martin Fischbein, a vice presidentat the New York Post. The crew recorded it without sound, added background music from Aram Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance", and circulated the resulting tape to industry contacts, causing the tape of Savitch's tantrum to arrive at NBC before she began her new job and present her in a negative light to her new colleagues. She also had reported for "Prime Time Saturday," NBC News' weekly television magazine, and was a podium correspondent at the 1980 political conventions. The last thing I personally want this site to be is Stepford Carstories. She resided in New York City. The series won her a Clarion Award from Women in Communications Inc. Miss Savitch was hired by NBC in September 1977 as a Congressional correspondent. After falling approximately fifteen feet and landing upside down in four to five feet of water, the car sank into deep mud that sealed the doors shut. On October 23, 1983, at the age of 36, she was killed in an automobile accident in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, in the United States of America. its akin to the James Deans Porsche, the Kennedy SS100X Lincoln and Jayne Mansfields Electra 225. [2][35] Lifetime also aired a documentary entitled Intimate Portrait: Jessica Savitch that was based on the perspectives of Savitch biographer Alanna Nash.[29]. Watching her final broadcast before a car accident caused her death from drowning in 1983, it's hard not to suspect that she was on something. Im a bit conflicted after reading this article. A few months after joining KHOU, she auditioned for and won a weekend anchor shift, becoming the first female news anchor in the South and beginning to develop the severe, mannered style of news delivery for which she later became known. If the Olds part is correct, and the interior picture is the car in question, I think it is a Cutlass wagon. Ms. Savitch anchors for the last time. Nobody ever talked about her big heart, her loyalty, her sense of humor, and her fabulousness as a person. NEW HOPE, Pa. -- NBC newscaster Jessica Savitch, whose professional triumphs and personal tragedies were documented in her recent autobiography 'Anchorwoman,' drowned in a canal 'within a very few minutes' of a car crash in a rainstorm, officials say. That October night in 1983 was foggy and Fischbein, known as a careful driver, was confused about which way to go after leaving the restaurant. It really doesnt have the polish Ive come to expect at CC. Jessica Savitch, the NBC television reporter who became one of the first women to anchor an evening network newscast, was killed late Sunday night after the car she and a companion were in. September 4, 1995 Jessica Savitch lived a much too short and much too unhappy life. Savitch was the network's second woman to anchor a weekend national newscast; Catherine Mackin had previously anchored NBC's Sunday evening newscast beginning in December 1976, before she left for ABC News the following year.
