TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Ex-WTVT Anchor Smith Dies

ADVERTISEMENT

By WALT BELCHER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 17, 2007

Updated: 12/17/2007 02:06 pm

Sign Guest Book

TAMPA - Pioneering local television anchor Hugh Smith died Sunday after a long battle with melanoma. He was 73.

Hugh Smith

In a 27-year career at WTVT, Channel 13, Smith was part of the first live color telecast in Tampa, the first remote live shot and the first hourlong newscast.

He worked at WTVT from November 1963 to March 1991 and for much of that time anchored the most watched newscasts in the Tampa Bay area. He also held the dual post of news director for 15 of those years.

Along with late sports anchor Andy Hardy and meteorologist Roy Leep, he was one of the most well-known Tampa television personalities in the 1960s, '70s and '80s.

No plans for a funeral or memorial service have been disclosed. Smith was diagnosed with melanoma this year. He was in Palms of Pasadena Hospital when he died.

Smith was able to weather a 1982 arrest for solicitation of prostitution, for which adjudication was withheld, and after an on-air apology, he continued as anchor for almost another decade.

His television career ended when he was 56 after a second arrest, in 1991, on a charge of soliciting prostitutes, including an underage runaway. He was sentenced to house arrest and probation.

"It was a mistake for which he paid dearly," says former WTVT news director Jim West. "It's a shame that it has to be brought up now because he should be remembered for the good that he did."

A former WTVT photographer and longtime friend of Smith, Tony Zappone, says Smith was "a good man and a terrific newsman in the Tampa Bay area for 30 years, and the things some remember him for were just a handful of days. Those days were not Hugh Smith."

Shortly after leaving WTVT, Smith joined the Mason Dixon morning show on WMTX, 100.7 FM, as news anchor. He continued in radio until the late 1990s and then retired to St. Petersburg.

Described by friends and former co-workers as a "very private man," Smith also was known for his sense of humor off camera and his strong work ethic.

"He was a giant in his day, and it's amazing how many people loved and respected him," says Jule McGee, WTVT's news operations manager. McGee, 70, a former WTVT reporter and photographer, worked with Smith for more than 25 years. "In recent weeks when his friends and former co-workers found out about his illness, they have come forward with cards and visits," he says.

"If ever there was a man who took the news business seriously, if ever there was a man who tried to do right in his work, it was Hugh," McGee says. "We all have our weaknesses, and he had two indiscretions that shouldn't overshadow all the other things he did in his life."

Born in Madison, S.D., Smith grew up in the small town of Pipestone, Minn.

In a May 2002 interview for a Web site devoted to the history of WTVT (big13.net), Smith said he developed an interest in radio by listening to broadcasters such as Edward R. Murrow, Eric Sevareid, Douglas Edwards and Robert Trout.

He also said working at Channel 13 was the best thing that ever happened in his career.

Smith earned a journalism degree from the University of Minnesota and began his broadcasting career in 1956 as a staff writer for WCCO radio in Minneapolis.

He also worked at WHAS-AM and WHAS-TV in Louisville, Ky., and television station KVTV in Sioux City, Iowa, before coming to WTVT in 1963.

He and his first wife adopted three children, Grant, Ward and Karen.

In 1966, he anchored the first color broadcast of a newscast in Tampa and in 1976 did the first live remote shot, reporting from a helicopter hovering over town. He also was instrumental in expanding WTVT's newscasts from 15-minute reports to 30 minutes and eventually to 60 minutes.

During the 1960s and '70s, in addition to supervising a staff of 30, he covered the Hillsborough County school system, the legislative delegation and the Hillsborough County Commission. He also filmed and edited his own reports.

"He was like a God in the newsroom, a larger-than-life figure that we all respected," says West, who worked at Channel 13 from 1977 to 1989.

"I had grown up watching him and considered him a role model," says West, now president of the Faith Television Network. "When I started there, Hugh was running the newsroom, and it was a tight ship."

He said Smith would come in early in the morning, go out and cover a school board meeting, come back and plan the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts and edit his film and write the script.

"He put in 16-hour days, and we all admired him for that and his insistence on high standards for journalism," West said.

Smith's arrest in 1982 came as a shock to the newsroom, West says. "He had been this larger-than-life figure who was a very private person. It's a shame that it even has to be brought up now. A man's life should be judged by its entirety, and he did a lot of good for the community. He helped make Tampa and WTVT what it is today."

Zappone, who worked at WTVT from 1976 to '82, says, "Hugh was an extreme introvert, and didn't let a lot of people in. He was not a criminal by any means, and I know he paid dearly for what he did."

He says Smith didn't attend WTVT's 50th anniversary party in 2005 out of concern that someone might mention the arrests.

Radio personality Mason Dixon said he took a chance on Smith after the 1991 arrest. "He had been such a credible newsman that I felt that he deserved a chance," Dixon said. "I didn't know him personally at the time, and I was impressed by his dedication. He would come in at 3 a.m. to prepare for a 6 a.m. report."

"On the air during the news, he had this serious Walter Cronkite delivery, but when that was done he could be very funny; he had a great personality," Dixon said. "He would play pranks, and he fit right in with the craziness on our show."

Dixon says there was no negative feedback about bringing him on the show, and it remained No. 1 in the ratings.

Reporter Walt Belcher can be reached at (813) 259-7654 or wbelcher@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT