Chet Huntley

Chet Huntley

Huntley began his radio newscast career in 1934 at Seattle's KIRO AM, later working on radio stations in Spokane (KHQ) and Portland. His time (1936–37) in Portland was with KGW-AM, owned by The Oregonian, a Portland daily newspaper. At KGW he was writer, newscaster, and announcer. In 1937 he went to work for KFI in Los Angeles, moving to CBS Radio from 1939 to 1951, then ABC Radio from 1951 to 1955. In 1955, he joined the NBC Radio network, viewed by network executives as "another Ed Murrow". In 1956, coverage of the national political party conventions was a major point of pride for the fledgling broadcast news organizations. NBC News executives were seeking to counter the growing popularity of CBS' Walter Cronkite, who had been a ratings success at the 1952 conventions. They decided to replace their current news anchor, John Cameron Swayze, but there was a disagreement on who the new anchorman should be. The two leading contenders were Huntley and David Brinkley. The eventual decision was to have both men share the assignment. Their on-air chemistry was apparent from the start, with Huntley's straightforward presentation countered by Brinkley's acerbic wit. This success soon led to the team replacing Swayze on the network's nightly news program. It was decided to have the two men co-anchor the show; Huntley from New York City, Brinkley from Washington, D.C. The Huntley-Brinkley Report began in October 1956 and was soon a ratings success. Huntley and Brinkley's catchphrase closing of "Good night, David"—"Good night, Chet... and good night for NBC News" was developed by the show's producer, Reuven Frank. Although both anchors initially disliked it, the sign-off became famous. Huntley and Brinkley gained great celebrity themselves, with surveys showing them better known than John Wayne, Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart or the Beatles. The gregarious Huntley remained the same, a friend commenting in 1968 that "Chet is warm, he's friendly, he's unaffected, he's—well, he's just so damned nice." In April 1956, before that year's political conventions that brought him to prominence, Huntley began anchoring a new half-hour program entitled Outlook, produced by Reuven Frank. The program aired for seven years, later changing its name to Chet Huntley Reporting, and often covered racial segregation and civil rights. In January 1962, the program moved from the Sunday evening news time-slot to prime time. Huntley wrote a memoir of his Montana childhood, The Generous Years: Remembrances of a Frontier Boyhood, published by Random House in 1968. He also became involved in a New York advertising agency, Levine, Huntley, Schmidt, Plapler & Beaver, gaining a 10 percent share in the agency in exchange for having his name on the letterhead and attending some agency meetings. He maintained his own cattle farm in Stockton, New Jersey, which for a short time in 1964 included a beef line from the farm's cattle promoted under his name before the network intervened due to conflict of interest and promotional concerns. Huntley's last NBC News broadcast was aired on Friday, July 31, 1970. He returned to Montana, where he conceived and built Big Sky, a ski resort south of Bozeman, which opened in December 1973.

  • Title: Chet Huntley
  • Popularity: 0.966
  • Known For: Acting
  • Birthday: 1911-12-11
  • Place of Birth: Cardwell, Montana, USA
  • Homepage:
  • Also Known As:
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Chet Huntley Movies

  • 1958
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    Cry Terror!

    Cry Terror!

    6.2 1958 HD

    A mad bomber holds an innocent family hostage.

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  • 1958
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    The Bonnie Parker Story

    The Bonnie Parker Story

    4.6 1958 HD

    In the 1930s, amoral blonde tommy-gun girl Bonnie Parker cut a swath of bodies across the South-West. Starting out on gas stations and bars with...

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  • 1943
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    Flight for Freedom

    Flight for Freedom

    5.2 1943 HD

    A fictionalized biopic about aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart. A female pilot breaks the Los Angeles to New York record and attracts the interest of...

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  • 1949
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    I Cheated the Law

    I Cheated the Law

    1 1949 HD

    An attorney (Tom Conway) learns he was duped into being his gangster murder client's (Steve Brodie) alibi.

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  • 1965
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    The Decision to Drop the Bomb

    The Decision to Drop the Bomb

    6.7 1965 HD

    J. Robert Oppenheimer and other key figures involved in the decision to drop the first atomic bomb discuss their motivations in this NBC News...

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  • 1949
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    And Ten Thousand More

    And Ten Thousand More

    1 1949 HD

    Student film sponsored by an urban housing authority advocating the financing of public housing. In the story a newspaper editor sends his reporter...

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  • 1955
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    Mau-Mau

    Mau-Mau

    1 1955 HD

    Newsman Chet Huntley narrates this documentary showing the rise of the African resistance movement known as the "Mau-Mau" against British rule in...

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  • 1960
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    The Thread of Life

    The Thread of Life

    6 1960 HD

    Introduction to DNA by Frank Baxter and Bell Labs.

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  • 1970
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    Friars Club Roast of Don Rickles

    Friars Club Roast of Don Rickles

    1 1970 HD

    The New York Friars club roasts Don Rickles. Hosted by Johnny Carson.

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  • 1943
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    Mr. Lucky

    Mr. Lucky

    6.9 1943 HD

    A conman poses as a war relief fundraiser, but when he falls for a charity worker, his conscience begins to trouble him.

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  • 1966
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    Disneyland Around the Seasons

    Disneyland Around the Seasons

    7.1 1966 HD

    Walt takes viewers on yet another tour of Disneyland to point out some of the newest additions to the park, including New Orleans Square, It's a...

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  • 1955
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    Day the World Ended

    Day the World Ended

    5 1955 HD

    After a nuclear attack, an unlikely group of survivors, including a geologist, a crook and his moll, and a prospector, find temporary shelter in the...

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  • 1942
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    The Big Street

    The Big Street

    5.8 1942 HD

    Meek busboy Little Pinks is in love with an extremely selfish nightclub singer who despises and uses him.

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  • 2011
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    Gloria: In Her Own Words

    Gloria: In Her Own Words

    6.7 2011 HD

    Despite decades of opposition from the right, and recent personal setbacks, Gloria Steinem remains one of the most outspoken and visible symbols of...

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  • 1960
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    Sit-In

    Sit-In

    1 1960 HD

    SIT-IN (1960) is filmmaker Robert M. Young’ (Nothing But A aman, The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez) seminal documentary on how the Student...

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  • 1971
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    Vanished

    Vanished

    5 1971 HD

    Government agencies investigate the mysterious disappearance of a powerful presidential adviser.

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  • 1949
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    The Emmy Awards

    The Emmy Awards

    7.5 1949 HD

    An annual awards ceremony honoring the best in U.S. prime time television programming as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

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  • 1957
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    Tonight Starring Jack Paar

    Tonight Starring Jack Paar

    6.5 1957 HD

    Tonight Starring Jack Paar is an American talk show hosted by Jack Paar under The Tonight Show franchise from 1957 to 1962. It originally aired...

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  • 1956
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    Huntley-Brinkley Report

    Huntley-Brinkley Report

    9.5 1956 HD

    The Huntley-Brinkley Report was the NBC television network's flagship evening news program from October 29, 1956, until July 31, 1970. It was...

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  • 2014
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    The Sixties

    The Sixties

    7.25 2014 HD

    The space race, the cold war, "free love," civil rights and more: The decade of the 1960s shaped our history -- and changed the world. In...

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  • 1968
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    The Dick Cavett Show

    The Dick Cavett Show

    6.658 1968 HD

    The Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks.

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  • 1970
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    The Kraft Music Hall

    The Kraft Music Hall

    1 1970 HD

    A few years after Perry Como left as host, "The Kraft Music Hall" was revived as a regular series from 1967-71. There was no set host during this...

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  • 1958
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    Kraft Music Hall

    Kraft Music Hall

    4.4 1958 HD

    Kraft Music Hall is an umbrella title for several television series aired by NBC in the United States from the 1950s to the 1970s in the musical...

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