Jack Morton Perkins (December 28, 1933 – August 19, 2019) was an American reporter, commentator, war correspondent, and

anchorman A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet ...

. He was dubbed "America's most literate correspondent" by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

Early life

Perkins was born on December 28, 1933, in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from Case Western Reserve University in 1956. While at Case Western Reserve, Perkins joined the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta.

Career

Perkins appeared on ''

NBC Nightly News ''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt'' for its weeknight broadcasts since June 22, 2015) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NB ...

'' and ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It ...

'', and on A&E as host of ''

Biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

''. Until 2012, he hosted ''A Gulf Coast Journal'', a weekly magazine show which aired on

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

member station WEDU-TV. He also hosted and narrated special programs on Chattanooga, Tennessee PBS member station WTCI-TV. From 1982 to 1986, Perkins was also a news anchor and commentator for NBC owned-and-operated station KNBC, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. Perkins devoted a great deal of his time to creating original photography and poetry which he brought together in books, titles including ''Island Prayers: Photographs and Poems of Praise'' (2006) and ''Nature of God: Exploring Nature to meet the Creator''. His 2013 book ''Finding Moosewood, Finding God'' tells of the period in his life between 1984 and 1999 that he and his wife, Mary Jo, lived on Bar Island off

Acadia National Park Acadia National Park is an American national park located along the mid-section of the Maine coast, southwest of Bar Harbor. The park preserves about half of Mount Desert Island, part of the Isle au Haut, the tip of the Schoodic Peninsula, an ...

in Maine to live a simple life, and there found God.

Parodies

Perkins and his ''Biography'' introductions were parodied several times on '' Mystery Science Theater 3000,'' with Perkins portrayed by

Michael J. Nelson Michael John Nelson (born October 11, 1964) is an American comedian and writer, most known for his work on the television series '' Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''MST3K''). Nelson was the head writer of the series for most of the show's origi ...

as a somewhat scatter-brained man prone to long, meandering, name-dropping rambles about nothing in particular, and, on syndicated versions of ''MST3K'', dubbed ''The Mystery Science Theater Hour'', the character introduced the films. Perkins declared himself a fan of the show and his parody on it, even participating in an online drive to save the program during its first cancellation. Perkins was also spoofed on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

'', first by

Harry Shearer Harry Julius Shearer (born December 23, 1943) is an American actor, comedian, writer, musician, radio host, director and producer. Born in Los Angeles, California, Shearer began his career as a child actor. From 1969 to 1976, Shearer was a member ...

reporting on the Walter Keane art exhibit in 1980; and then by

Darrell Hammond Darrell Clayton Hammond (born October 8, 1955) is an American actor, stand-up comedian and impressionist. He was a regular cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1995 to 2009, and has been its announcer since 2014. Upon his departure, Hammo ...

, who played Perkins as a sarcastic

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

while hosting ''Biography''. However, Perkins felt this portrayal of his character was grossly distorted and inaccurate. Perkins also appeared in Family Guy as the news announcer for A and E Biography in season 2 episode 3 "Da Boom".

Personal life and death

Perkins married Mary Jo Perkins in 1960. Together they had three children: Julie, Mark and Eric. Eric followed his father into journalism, serving as sports director at

KARE-TV KARE (channel 11) is a television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, serving the Twin Cities area as an NBC affiliate. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on Olson Memorial Highway ( MN 55) in Golden V ...

, the NBC affiliate station in the

twin cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in sta ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. Perkins died August 19, 2019, in

Nokomis, Florida Nokomis is an unincorporated town along the Gulf Coast of Florida, United States, located south of Osprey and just north of Venice. The town has access to the coast through Nokomis Public Beach and Casey Key. The town's population was 3,167 at t ...

, at age 85.

References

External links

Jack Perkins
official website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, Jack 1933 births 2019 deaths NBC News people Television personalities from Cleveland Writers from Cleveland American war correspondents Journalists from Ohio Case Western Reserve University alumni