Robert MacNeil

Canadian-American journalist (1931–2024)

For other people named Robert MacNeil, see Robert MacNeil (disambiguation).

Robert MacNeil

MacNeil accepting the 2008 Cronkite Award

Born|

Robert Breckenridge Ware MacNeil

(1931-01-19)January 19, 1931

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Died| April 12, 2024(2024-04-12) (aged 93)

New York City, U.S.

Citizenship|

* Canada
* United States (from 1997)

Alma mater| Carleton University
Occupations|

* Journalist
* novelist

Years active| 1956–2020
Notable credit| The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour
Children| 4, including Ian

Robert Breckenridge Ware MacNeil OC (January 19, 1931 – April 12, 2024), often known as Robin MacNeil, was a Canadian-American journalist, writer and television news anchor. He partnered with Jim Lehrer to create the landmark public television news program The Robert MacNeil Report in 1975.[1] MacNeil co-anchored the program until 1995. The show eventually became the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour and is today PBS News Hour.

## Early life and education

[edit]

MacNeil was born in Montreal on January 19, 1931, the son of Margaret Virginia (née Oxner) and Robert A. S. MacNeil, a Royal Canadian Navy officer in World War II and later a Canadian foreign service officer.[1][2][3] He grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia, went to boarding school at Rothesay Collegiate School and Upper Canada College, then attended Dalhousie University and later graduated from Carleton University in Ottawa in 1955.[4]

## Career

[edit]

MacNeil began working in the news field at ITV in London, then for Reuters, and then for NBC News[1] as a correspondent in Washington, D.C.[5] He also worked as a news anchor, for WNBC, in New York City.[5]

On November 22, 1963, MacNeil covered President John F. Kennedy's visit to Dallas for NBC News.[6] After shots rang out in Dealey Plaza, MacNeil, who was with the presidential motorcade, followed crowds running onto the grassy knoll; he appears in a photo taken just moments after the assassination.[7] As he was reporting for NBC, MacNeil was at times in relatively close proximity[8] to his future co-anchor and partner Jim Lehrer, also covering the Kennedy visit and assassination for the Dallas Times Herald, but the two did not meet until several years later, covering the Senate Watergate hearings in Washington, D.C. for PBS.[5][9]

### News anchor

[edit]

In 1967, MacNeil began covering American and European politics for the BBC.[10] From 1971 to 1974, he hosted Washington Week in Review, a public affairs television program on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).[5][11]

MacNeil rose to fame during his coverage of the 1973 Senate Watergate hearings for PBS, for which he received an Emmy Award. Teamed with Jim Lehrer, the two broadcast and analysed some 250 hours of the hearings in all, sometimes late into the night.[1] This coverage helped lead to and inspire his most famous role, when he joined Lehrer in 1976 to create the PBS daily evening news program The Robert MacNeil Report, later renamed The MacNeil/Lehrer Report and then The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour.[4][12] After serving 20 years on the program, MacNeil retired from his nightly appearances on October 20, 1995; Lehrer anchored the program solo until 2009.[13][14] The program continues as the PBS NewsHour.[5] He remained involved with the news program until 2013 as one of the heads of MacNeil-Lehrer Productions.[1]

### Other work

[edit]

In director Michael Almereyda's 2000 modern-day adaptation of Hamlet, MacNeil portrayed the Player King, reimagined as a TV news reporter.[15][16]

After the September 11 attacks, MacNeil called PBS and offered to help.[3] He joined PBS's coverage of the attacks and their aftermath, interviewing reporters and giving his thoughts on the events.[3]

In 2007, MacNeil hosted the PBS television miniseries America at a Crossroads, which presented independently produced documentaries about the "War on Terrorism". The series initially ran from April 15–20, with further episodes later that year.[17]

In a Sesame Street Special Report, muppet parody of the Iran-Contra scandal, MacNeil investigated a "Cookiegate" incident involving the Cookie Monster.[18] In 1998, for Season 29's "Slimey to the Moon" story arc, MacNeil took the role of co-anchor with Kermit the Frog, as Slimey, Oscar the Grouch's pet worm, and four other worms made a landing on the Moon.[19][20]

MacNeil chaired the MacDowell Colony's board of directors from 1993 to 2010.[21] He was succeeded by Michael Chabon.[22]

Inspired by his passion for language, he made the nine-part television series The Story of English in 1986 for PBS and the BBC, detailing the development of the English language.[1] The Story of English is also a companion book, also produced in 1986. The book and the television series were written by MacNeil, Robert McCrum, and William Cran.[23]

## Personal life and death

[edit]

MacNeil became a naturalized American citizen in 1997, and became an Order of Canada officer that same year.[4][24] He was married to Rosemarie Coopland, Jane Doherty, and Donna Nappi Richards MacNeil.[25] With Coopland, he was the father of award-winning theatre scenic designer Ian MacNeil.[26]

MacNeil was known to friends and family as "Robin".[1]

MacNeil died of natural causes at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan on April 12, 2024, at the age of 93, confirmed by his daughter Alison MacNeil.[4]

## Awards and honors

[edit]

* 1979: LHD honorary degree from Bates College[27]
* 1997: Officer of the Order of Canada, one of Canada's highest civilian honors, for being "one of the most respected journalists of our time"[28]
* 1990: Paul White Award, Radio Television Digital News Association[29]
* 1991: Made a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences[30]
* 1999: Television Hall of Fame[1]
* 2008: Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism[31]

## Books

[edit]

MacNeil also wrote books, many of which are about his career as a journalist. After his retirement from NewsHour, he also dabbled in writing novels.[1] His books include:

* The People Machine: The Influence of Television on American Politics (1970). ISBN 978-0413276704.
* Wordstruck: A Memoir (1989) ISBN 978-0670818716.
* Eudora Welty: Seeing Black and White (1990). ISBN 978-0878054718.
* The Way We Were: 1963, the Year Kennedy Was Shot (1991). ISBN 978-0881844337.
* MacNeil, Robert (1992). Burden of Desire. Nan A. Talese/Doubleday. ISBN 9780385420198.
* The Right Place at the Right Time (1990). ISBN 978-0140131208.
* The Voyage (1995). ISBN 978-0385469524.
* Macneil, Robert (1998). Breaking News (A Novel). Nan A. Talese/Doubleday. ISBN 9780385420204.
* The Story of English with Robert McCrum (accompanied by a PBS documentary miniseries in 1986) ISBN 978-0142002315.
* Looking for My Country: Finding Myself in America (2003). ISBN 978-0385507813.
* MacNeil, Robert; Cran, William (December 28, 2004). Do You Speak American?. Nan A. Talese/Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-51198-8. (accompanied by a PBS documentary miniseries in 2005)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Davenport, Anne Azzi; Brown, Jeffrey (April 12, 2024). "Robert MacNeil, co-founder of NewsHour, dies at 93". PBS NewsHour. PBS. Archived from the original on April 12, 2024. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
2. ^ Rose, Mike (January 19, 2023). "Today's famous birthdays list for January 19, 2023 includes celebrities Dolly Parton, Jodie Sweetin". The Plain Dealer. Archived from the original on January 19, 2023. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
3. ^ a b c MacNeil, Robert (2004). Looking for My Country: Finding Myself in America. Harvest Books. ISBN 978-0-15-602910-0.
4. ^ a b c d Jensen, Elizabeth (April 12, 2024). "Robert MacNeil, Earnest News Anchor for PBS, Dies at 93". The New York Times. Vol. 173, no. 60123\. p. A19. Archived from the original on April 13, 2024. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
5. ^ a b c d e Battaglio, Stephen (April 12, 2024). "Robert MacNeil, the stately journalist who brought news to PBS, dies at 93". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 17, 2024. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
6. ^ "Robert MacNeil remembers the 1963 gunshots that killed President Kennedy". PBS. November 20, 2013. Archived from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
7. ^ "Robert MacNeil Reflects on Reporting the JFK Assassination". WNET. November 6, 2013. Archived from the original on February 5, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
8. ^ Members Only: "MacNeil/Lehrer on the JFK Assassination" on YouTube
9. ^ "Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil reflect on covering JFK's assassination". PBS. November 11, 2013. Archived from the original on April 18, 2024. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
10. ^ Lanum, Nikolas (April 12, 2024). "Robert MacNeil, longtime PBS anchorman, dies at 93". Fox News. Archived from the original on April 18, 2024. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
11. ^ Hautzinger, Daniel (November 7, 2017). "The Stories Behind PBS Shows". WTTW. Archived from the original on April 18, 2024. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
12. ^ "Robert MacNeil, longtime anchor of PBS 'NewsHour' nightly newscast, dies at 93". CBS News. Associated Press. April 12, 2024. Archived from the original on April 18, 2024. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
13. ^ "Robert Macneil bows out of PBS's 'Newshour'". Deseret News. October 20, 1995. Archived from the original on April 18, 2024. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
14. ^ Bryan, Dave (April 12, 2024). "Robert MacNeil, creator and first anchor of PBS 'NewsHour' nightly newscast, dies at 93". Associated Press. Archived from the original on April 18, 2024. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
15. ^ Worthen, W. B. (July 5, 2014). Shakespeare Performance Studies. Cambridge University Press. Chapter 4: Retrotech: writing, theatre, and technologies of performance Michael Almereyda, Hamlet. doi:10.1017/CBO9781107295544.004. ISBN 978-1-107-05595-7. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
16. ^ French, Philip (December 17, 2000). "Hamlet". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on April 18, 2024. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
17. ^ Stanley, Alessandra (April 14, 2007). "The World Since 9/11, in Detail and Sorrow". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 28, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
18. ^ "Throwback Thursday: NewsHour's visits to Sesame Street". PBS. November 13, 2014. Archived from the original on October 9, 2016. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
19. ^ "Sesame Street Worm to Embark on Space Odyssey". December 24, 1997. Archived from the original on July 10, 2022. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
20. ^ "Official Sesame Street YouTube Channel". December 2014. Archived from the original on July 10, 2022. Retrieved July 10, 2022 - via YouTube.
21. ^ MacDowell Colony Press Release, Chairman Robert MacNeil and President Carter Wiseman to Retire from MacDowell Leadership Archived February 8, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, April 15, 2010. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
22. ^ Kellog, Carolyn (December 7, 2010). "Chabon named chairman of MacDowell Colony board". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 25, 2018. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
23. ^ Gross, John (September 26, 1986). "Books of the times". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on April 19, 2024. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
24. ^ Smith, Harrison (April 12, 2024). "Robert MacNeil, urbane anchor who founded 'PBS NewsHour,' dies at 93". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 13, 2024. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
25. ^ "Robert MacNeil Weds Miss Richards". The New York Times. October 21, 1984. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 30, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
26. ^ Dullea, Georgia (May 5, 1994). "At Home With: Robert and Ian MacNeil; A Father and a Son, Growing Up Again". The New York Times. p. C1. Archived from the original on January 6, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
27. ^ "List of Honorary Degree Recipients". April 5, 2016. Archived from the original on December 11, 2023. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
28. ^ "Host Robert MacNeil Series Host". PBS. Archived from the original on October 20, 2017. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
29. ^ "Paul White Award". Radio Television Digital News Association. Archived from the original on February 25, 2013. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
30. ^ "Robert B. W. MacNeil". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. April 12, 2024. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
31. ^ Arizona State University (January 29, 2009). "Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication". Archived from the original on March 25, 2016. Retrieved November 23, 2016.

## External links

[edit]

* Interview with Robert MacNeil | The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
* "Remembering Robert Macneil, Longtime Host of PBS 'NewsHour'", Fresh Air, NPR—two interviews and obituary
* Appearances on C-SPAN

Preceded by

Position created

|  The Robert MacNeil Report / The MacNeil/Lehrer Report / The MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour anchor
1975–1995
Served alongside: Jim Lehrer | Succeeded by

Jim Lehrer

|
|

Awards for Robert MacNeil

* v
* t
* e

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Program

1979–1994|

* Robert E. Fuisz and Louis H. Gorfain (1983)
* Bill Moyers (1984)
* Howard Enders, John G. Fox, Michael Joseloff, and Marc Siegel / Brian Winston (1985)
* Robert MacNeil and Robert McCrum (1987)
* Kevin Brownlow and David Gill / Bill Couturié and Richard Dewhurst (1988)
* John Heminway (1989)
* Todd McCarthy / Ric Burns, Ken Burns and Geoffrey C. Ward (1991)
* Todd Robinson / Dereck Joubert / Dennis Watlington (1994)

2003–present|

* Michelle Ferrari (2003)
* Susan Lacy and Stephen Stept (2004)
* Geoffrey C. Ward (2005)
* Peter Jones (2006)
* James Sanders and Ric Burns (2007)
* Geoffrey C. Ward (2008)
* Joe Bini, P. G. Morgan, and Marina Zenovich (2009)
* Dayton Duncan (2010)
* Stanley Nelson Jr. (2011)
* Geoffrey C. Ward (2012)
* Alex Gibney (2013)
* Ann Druyan and Steven Soter (2014)
* Alex Gibney (2015)
* Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos (2016)
* Ava DuVernay and Spencer Averick (2017)
* Anthony Bourdain (2018)
* Anthony Bourdain (2019)
* Mark Lewis (2020)
* Vickie Curtis, Davis Coombe, and Jeff Orlowski (2021)
* Mark Monroe (2022)
* Geoffrey C. Ward (2023)
* Jessie Gaskell, Conan O'Brien, Matt O'Brien, and Mike Sweeney (2024)

Between 1979–1994, the category was a juried award.

* v
* t
* e

Television Hall of Fame – Class of 1999

* Herbert Brodkin
* Robert MacNeil and Jim Lehrer
* Lorne Michaels
* Carl Reiner
* Fred Rogers
* Fred Silverman
* Ethel Winant

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