Don Goddard

Who was Don Goddard?

Don Goddard was a radio and television announcer and newscaster who later became known for his work with geriatric alcoholism and other addictions.

Goddard was born July 5, 1904 in Binghamton, N.Y. He attended Princeton University and had a first career in print and broadcast journalism. During the 1940s, he served as a reporter and radio announcer for the NBC Blue Network. In addition, he narrated a series of classroom-based teenage advice films, "You and Your Family" and "You and Your Friends", both in 1946, and he served as commentator for the early NBC News television show, "Watch the World".

He served as ABC's anchor of the "ABC Evening News", from 1958–59, replacing John Charles Daly in on early-evening news for one year, while ABC attempted a late-evening newscast, which Daly hosted. While serving as a newscaster for ABC News, he was one of their primary announcers to break the news of the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963. While ABC announcer Ed Silverman was the first to announce the bulletin, it was Goddard who helmed the network's initial coverage of the tragedy. Goddard also was the host of the ABC television series Medical Horizons, an on-the-scene documentary about medical advances at American hospitals and research centers. He retired in 1970 as head of ABC's Biographical and History Archive, which he had helped to establish.