'Charles Osgood' (born Charles Osgood Wood, III on
January 8,
1933) is a
radio and
television commentator in the
United States. His daily program, ''
The Osgood File'', has been broadcast on the
CBS Radio Network since
1971.
Osgood was born in
New York City. He graduated from
Fordham University with a
Bachelor of Science degree in
1954 with a
major in
economics. While at Fordham, Osgood worked at the university's FM radio station
WFUV. He was inducted into the
Radio Hall of Fame in
1990.
Osgood also writes a bi-weekly syndicated newspaper column, and has written four books. On television, Osgood hosts ''
CBS Sunday Morning''. He has also anchored the ''
CBS Sunday Night News'' and the ''
CBS Morning News''.
In August 1967, he anchored the first morning drive shift for
WCBS-AM after its conversion to an all-news format. The twist was that the first day of all-news programming actually aired on
WCBS-FM after an
airplane crashed into the AM station's transmitter on New York's
High Island.
Among his personal trademarks are his
bow tie and his propensity for delivering his commentaries in whimsical verse. Example: When the Census Bureau invented a designation for cohabitant(s) as "Person(s) of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters", or "
POSSLQ", Osgood turned it into a pronounceable three-syllable word, and composed a prospective love poem, which included these lines which became the title of one of his books:
:''There's nothing that I wouldn't do''
:''If you would be my POSSLQ''
Charles Osgood is an accomplished pianist.
Family
Married to Jean Crafton in 1973. Five children: Kathleen, Kenneth, Anne, Emily and James. Osgood's nephew,
Emmy Award winning composer
Christopher Mangum, composes film scores including themes for
National Geographic Specials, and
The Discovery Channel.
External links
★
★
Official CBS biography
★
The Osgood File at
Westwood One Web site