# Hugh Downs dies at 99 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 2, 2020, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hugh-downs-dies-at-99/914090 "2020-07-02T18:56:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2020, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hugh-downs-dies-at-99/914090/1 "2020-07-02T18:56:42Z")
I thought he worked recently > **[Broadcaster Hugh Downs dies at 99](https://fox4kc.com/news/legendary-broadcaster-hugh-downs-dies-at-99/)** > > SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Legendary broadcaster Hugh Downs has died at the age of 99, according to a statement from his family. He passed away at his Scottsdale, Arizona, home Wednesday evening. A … ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2020, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hugh-downs-dies-at-99/914090/2 "2020-07-02T19:11:25Z")
I have so many memories of the late 80s and early 90s. We’d watch TGIF comedy shows on friday followed by 20/20 with Hugh Downs and Barbara Walters. He was an old man back then, so he lived a long life. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2020, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hugh-downs-dies-at-99/914090/3 "2020-07-02T19:42:18Z")
I remember him as host of the Today show and later 20/20. He was one of those folks you just had to like, IMHO. Sorry to know he’s gone. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2020, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hugh-downs-dies-at-99/914090/4 "2020-07-02T20:01:41Z")
99? Wow! He was one of those people who I thought would never die. RIP. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2020, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hugh-downs-dies-at-99/914090/5 "2020-07-02T20:20:31Z")
I actually remember him in the 'Sixties hosting “Concentration” daytime game show. He was one of the very first public figures to avail himself of the newfangled hair transplant technique to avoid balding. Then I remember him being on the “Today” show, and finally ending up with Barbara Walters on “20/20.” One of the giants in television. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Oglomott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oglomott/32/3543_2.png) [@Oglomott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oglomott)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2020, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hugh-downs-dies-at-99/914090/6 "2020-07-02T21:34:55Z")
The former host of 20/20 dies in 2020 😲 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2020, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hugh-downs-dies-at-99/914090/7 "2020-07-02T21:40:39Z")
I knew him from 20/20, which I watched as a kid in the 1980s. His intelligence and curiosity were apparent in his reportage and commentaries. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2020, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hugh-downs-dies-at-99/914090/8 "2020-07-02T22:37:02Z")
He’s one of those faces that goes waaaaay back in TV history. He was Jack Paar’s announcer in the late 50s. And the first host of Concentration, one of the first game shows. Peace, Hugh. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2020, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hugh-downs-dies-at-99/914090/9 "2020-07-03T01:02:13Z")
In my head I heard “I’m Hugh Downs and this is 2020” while reading this headline. Hang in there Barbara! ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2020, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hugh-downs-dies-at-99/914090/10 "2020-07-03T01:26:52Z")
Back in the 1960s, he and his son sailed across the Pacific Ocean and he wrote a book about it, which I got at a used-book sale. I moved and gave it away before I had a chance to read it. Interlibrary loan, here I come. [https://www.amazon.com/Shoal-Stars-True-Life-Account-Everymans/dp/B002J4BCLG/ref=sr\_1\_5?dchild=1&keywords=a+shoal+of+stars&qid=1593739576&sr=8-5](https://www.amazon.com/Shoal-Stars-True-Life-Account-Everymans/dp/B002J4BCLG/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=a+shoal+of+stars&qid=1593739576&sr=8-5) ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2020, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hugh-downs-dies-at-99/914090/11 "2020-07-03T01:53:53Z")
I remember watching him in the late 70s / early 80s. He, along with Alex Trebek, was one of my mother’s “sweet babies” ( not that she phrased it like that). A gent and a great journalist. RIP, Mr. Downs. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2020, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hugh-downs-dies-at-99/914090/12 "2020-07-03T09:07:57Z")
> [@Oglomott](#): > > The former host of 20/20 dies in 2020 😲 _::: cue theme from Twilight Zone :::_ ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2020, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hugh-downs-dies-at-99/914090/13 "2020-07-03T11:20:08Z")
I remember him, all the way back to Jack Paar. My mom especially loved him.