Curt E. Gowdy graduated from the
University of Wyoming with a B.S. in statistics. While at UW, Gowdy was a
member of the Cowboy basketball and tennis teams and was a three-time letterwinner
in both sports.
But Gowdy made a name for himself in the
radio business. He began as a broadcaster in Cheyenne before moving to Oklahoma
City to announce University of Oklahoma football and Oklahoma State basketball
games, with his distinctive style later earning him an audition with the New
York Yankees.
Gowdy announced Yankees' games with Mel
Allen for three years, then, in 1961, began announcing for the Boston Red Sox
and the American Football League (AFL). He announced for the Red Sox until 1966
and for AFL until 1969.
From 1961-79, Gowdy was employed as a sports broadcaster for
NBC-TV. He hosted the show The American
Sportsman on ABC's Wide World of Sports from 1964-84. In 1979, Gowdy was
the sports broadcaster for the NFL Football Sports Spectacular on CBS-TV.
During his career, Gowdy covered 16 World Series, 16 baseball
All-Star games, eight Super Bowls, 12 Rose Bowls, eight Olympic Games and
numerous NCAA Final Fours. A six-time Emmy Award winner, Gowdy was selected as Sportscaster
of the Year by the National Association of Sportswriters and Sports
Broadcasters in both 1965 and 1967, won the George Foster Peabody Award in 1970
and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts
and Sciences in 1992.
Also, Gowdy has been admitted to the Sports
Broadcasters Hall of Fame, the Baseball Hall of Fame, the American
Sportscasters Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and the Pro
Football Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the UW Athletics Hall of Fame for
basketball in 1998.
Photo courtesy of UW Photo Services.
