Icarus Nestor Pappas (April 16, 1933 – August 31, 2008), better known as Ike Pappas, was an American television journalist who worked as a
CBS News correspondent for 25 years.
Life and career
Pappas was born in the
Flushing, Queens, section of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. He graduated from
Long Island University and then spent two years in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
. He was assigned to ''
Stars and Stripes'' during his enlistment.
Dallas, Texas, November 24, 1963
That morning, Pappas was among the throng of reporters present at the Dallas City Jail for presidential assassin
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963.
Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at the age of 12 fo ...
's transfer to the County Jail. Working for
WNEW-AM in New York at the time, Pappas began his report as Oswald came into view:
As Pappas asked Oswald the question,
Jack Ruby stepped out of the crowd of reporters with a pistol, moved in front of Oswald and fired one shot into Oswald's abdomen.
Pappas later testified in
Ruby's trial.
[Weber, Bruce (September 2, 2008)]
Ike Pappas, a Newsman With a Long Career at CBS, Dies at 75.
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''
Later years
In May 1970, Pappas was at
Kent State University
Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in ...
with a
CBS News film crew when members of the
Ohio National Guard
The Ohio National Guard comprises the Ohio Army National Guard and the Ohio Air National Guard. The commander-in-chief of the Ohio Army National Guard is the governor of the U.S. state of Ohio. If the Ohio Army National Guard is called to fed ...
shot four students during an antiwar protest.
Pappas was the most prominent of 215 people laid off in 1987 during a
downsizing at CBS News.
[Boyer, Peter J. (March 7, 1987)]
14 Reporters among 215 Cut by CBS.
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''
Along with a number of other notable
Greek Americans
Greek Americans ( el, Ελληνοαμερικανοί ''Ellinoamerikanoí'' ''Ellinoamerikánoi'' ) are Americans of full or partial Greek ancestry. The lowest estimate is that 1.2 million Americans are of Greek descent while the highest es ...
, he was a founding member of
The Next Generation Initiative, a leadership program aimed at getting students involved in public affairs.
After he left CBS, Pappas formed his own television production company with CBS News Editor Ed Danko, and made cameo appearances as himself in several motion pictures, including ''
The Package'' and ''
Moon Over Parador
''Moon over Parador'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy film, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Raul Julia and Sônia Braga. It is a remake of the 1939 film ''The Magnificent Fraud'', based on the unpublished short story entitled "Caviar for His Exce ...
.''
A resident of
McLean
MacLean, also spelt Maclean and McLean, is a Goidelic languages, Gaelic surname Mac Gille Eathain, or, Mac Giolla Eóin in Irish language, Irish Gaelic), Eóin being a Gaelic form of Johannes (John (given name), John). The clan surname is an A ...
,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, in his later years, he died in
Arlington, Virginia, of
congestive heart failure
Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...
, aged 75.
References
External links
*
*
1933 births
2008 deaths
American television journalists
American war correspondents
American war correspondents of the Vietnam War
American male journalists
American people of Greek descent
People from Queens, New York
20th-century American journalists
Journalists from New York City
{{US-tv-bio-stub