Robert Prime Beattie ( ; January 24, 1933 – April 1, 2018) was an American

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

, skiing promoter and commentator for ABC Sports and

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. He was head coach of the

U.S. Ski Team The U.S. Ski Team, operating under the auspices of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, develops and supports men's and women's athletes in the sports of alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, cross-country, ski jumping, and Nordic combined. Since 1974 the team and ...

from 1961 to 1969 and co-founded the Alpine Skiing World Cup in 1966. His work as a ski-racing commentator for

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

included four

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were he ...

, from 1976 through 1988.

Early life

Beattie was born in Manchester, New Hampshire, on January 24, 1933, to Robert Archibald Beattie (1904–1975), a sales manager for a roofing company, and Katherine Simpson (née Prime; 1906–1995), a homemaker. He had a younger brother, John M. He graduated from Manchester Central High School in 1950. He attended

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont. The college currently enrolls 2,858 undergraduates from all ...

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

, where he participated in several sports, including football, tennis, cross country, and skiing. After graduating in 1955 with a degree in education, he remained at Middlebury as an assistant coach.

Coaching career

In 1956, Beattie was named acting coach of the school's ski team after coach Bobo Sheehan left to coach the alpine skiers on the 1956 U.S. Olympic Team. In 1957, Beattie became the head skiing coach for the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

, and during his tenure the team won the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

national titles in 1959 and 1960. In 1961, the U.S. Ski Association named Beattie the

's head alpine coach. He continued to work concurrently for the university until 1965. During his coaching years, Beattie was known as a demanding coach, driving his athletes hard. At the

1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games (german: IX. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 ( bar, Innschbruck 1964, label=Austro-Bavarian), was a winter multi-sport event which was celebr ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, the Beattie-coached U.S. team won two medals, both in the men's slalom: a silver earned by

Billy Kidd {{Infobox alpine ski racer , name = Billy Kidd , image = Billy Kidd skier 1970.jpg , image_size = 220 , caption = Kidd after winning the world title in 1970 , birth_date = {{birth date and ag ...

and a bronze by

Jimmie Heuga James Frederic Heuga (September 22, 1943 – February 8, 2010) was an American alpine ski racer who became one of the first two members of the U.S. men's team to win an Olympic medal in his sport. After multiple sclerosis prematurely ended his ...

. They were the country's first-ever Olympic medals in men's skiing. During the

1968 Winter Olympics The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games (french: Les Xes Jeux olympiques d'hiver), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 18 February 1968 in Grenoble, France. Thirty-seven countries participated. Frenchm ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, the U.S. Ski Team won no medals, and Beattie was criticized for his tough coaching style. He stepped down as the U.S. Ski Team's coach in April 1969.

Promotion and commentating

In 1966, Beattie co-founded the World Cup for

alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

. After stepping down as U.S. team coach in 1969, he founded the World Pro Ski Tour in 1970 and worked in promoting it, and became a NASTAR commissioner in 1970. ABC Sports hired him as a ski-racing commentator, where he was frequently paired with

Frank Gifford Francis Newton Gifford (August 16, 1930 – August 9, 2015) was an American football player, actor, and television sports commentator. After a 12-year playing career as a halfback and flanker for the New York Giants of the National Foo ...

, a former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. Beattie's television work included alpine commentary during ABC's coverage of four Winter Olympics in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

, and

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, and also covered

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

. He later worked as ABC's winter sports correspondent, which also involved non-alpine sports, and occasionally worked as an announcer for non-winter sports on ABC's '' Wide World of Sports'' program. Beattie continued to manage the World Pro Ski Tour until 1982, and started hosting

skiing programs in 1985. He authored or co-authored three books, including ''My Ten Secrets of Skiing'' (Viking Press, NY; 1968) and ''Bob Beattie's Learn to Ski'' (Bantam Books, 1967). He also played the announcer for the arm wrestling championship in the 1987 movie '' Over the Top''.

Honors

Beattie was given the AT&T Skiing Award in 1983. He was inducted into the National Ski Hall of Fame in 1984. He was inducted into the

Colorado Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame The Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame is a hall of fame for notable figures in skiing and snowboarding, including athletes, sport builders, and inspirations. Inductees *1977 - Frank Ashley, George Cranmer, Charles Minot Dole, Father John Lewis Dy ...

in 1986. He was the 1997 recipient of the

International Ski Federation The ''Fédération internationale de ski et de snowboard'' (FIS; en, International Ski and Snowboard Federation) is the highest international governing body for skiing and snowboarding. Founded on 2 February 1924 in Chamonix, France during the ...

's Journalist Award.

Personal life

Beattie had two children, Zeno and Susan, from his first marriage to Ann Dwinnell. His second marriage was to Olympic skier Kiki Cutter and lasted from 1971 to 1973. He married a third time in 1980, to Cheryl Britton, a manager of a local secondhand clothing store, and that marriage lasted until 1987. He was married to Marci Rose Beattie (née Cohen) until his death in 2018. Beattie died on April 1, 2018, in

Fruita, Colorado The City of Fruita is a home rule municipality located in western Mesa County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 13,395 at the 2020 United States Census. Fruita is a part of the Grand Junction, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area a ...

, from a long illness at the age of 85.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beattie, Bob 1933 births 2018 deaths American television sports announcers ESPN people Olympic Games broadcasters Skiing announcers American alpine skiing coaches Skiing executives Manchester Central High School alumni Middlebury College alumni Sportspeople from Manchester, New Hampshire Colorado Buffaloes coaches