Heywood Hale Broun

Heywood Hale Broun ( /ˈbruːn/; March 10, 1918 – September 5, 2001) was an American an author, sportswriter, commentator and actor. He was born and raised in New York City, the son of writer and activist Ruth Hale and columnist Heywood Broun. He was educated at private schools and Swarthmore College.

In 1940, Broun joined the staff at the New York tabloid PM where he served as a sportswriter. His career was interrupted by World War II in which he served in the United States Army field artillery. When the war ended he returned to the PM newspaper and wrote for its successor, the New York Star, which ceased operations in 1949.

Broun died in Kingston, New York, in 2001.

TV career

Nicknamed "Woodie", he joined CBS News and Sports in 1966 where he worked for 20 years as a color commentator on a wide variety of sporting venues, including Thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown. He is remembered for his English-language expressions, handlebar mustache and colorful sport coats. A selection of his Saturday night sports feature stories were compiled in the ESPN Classic series Woodie's World; 36 episodes were released between 2002 and 2005. Woodie's World was re-released in 2009 on (ESPN Classic), obscure footage of Woodie on the road with Dempsey Hovland's barnstorm female basketball team Texas Cowgirls that played and won against men often on NBA courts (1949–1977) is included in the feature stories. The team was of personal interest to Broun who also reported on it on CBS nightly news segments.

Film career

Broun acted in a number of films such as:

• The Odd Couple
• For Pete's Sake
• HouseSitter

As well as television programs in guest or supporting roles.

Books

• A Studied Madness (1965)
• Tumultuous Merriment (1979)
• Whose little boy are you? : A memoir of the Broun family (1983)

External links

• Heywood Hale Broun at the Internet Movie Database
• Heywood Hale Broun at AllRovi
• Heywood Hale Broun obituary
• findagrave.com