William Herschel Sharpe, Jr. (born 1950)was the lead anchor on Charleston, South Carolina broadcast station WCSC-TV. He had been with the station since October 1973.Sharpe retired in 2021 after 48 years at WCSC-TV. He has three children, Hayle Kathryn Sharpe, Harper Daniella-Augusta Sharpe, and William Herschel Sharpe III. He's married to Katherine McGee Thompson Sharpe, and is step father to Grey McGee Thompson, James Hunter Thompson, and Emma Southerland Thompson.

Education

A native of the St. Andrews area in Charleston, he graduated from St. Andrews High School in the city, moving to Atlanta, where he attended

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

, receiving a degree in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

with a minor in French.

Awards and recognition

Sharpe has received numerous awards for best newscast for feature reporting and investigative reporting, and has been part of newscasts which received an

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

and a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

. Sharpe's broadcast team received regional Emmy Award nominations in four out of six years between 2002 and 2007. On a less serious note, Sharpe won a 2008 Best of Charleston award from the ''

Charleston City Paper This is a list of newspapers in South Carolina, United States. Current news publications The following is a list of current (print and web-based) news publications published in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Defunct 18th century Charlesto ...

'' for "Best

Ted Baxter Ted Baxter is a fictional character on the sitcom ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977). Portrayed by Ted Knight, the Baxter character is a broad parody of a vain, shallow, buffoonish TV personality. Knight's comedic model was actor William ...

Impression".

Obstruction of justice charge

In 1983, Sharpe and three co-workers were arrested and subsequently cleared of

obstruction of justice Obstruction of justice, in United States jurisdictions, is an act that involves unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investigators, or other gov ...

charges after WCSC-TV broadcast the photograph of a multiple murder suspect against the wishes of law enforcement authorities. Despite their release, the

Charleston County Charleston County is located in the U.S. state of South Carolina along the Atlantic coast. As of the 2020 census, its population was 408,235, making it the third most populous county in South Carolina (behind Greenville and Richland counties). ...

Solicitor refused to acknowledge the validity of the claim that their conduct was protected by the

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharpe, Bill Emory University alumni Television anchors from Charleston, South Carolina Living people 1951 births Regional Emmy Award winners