- Born
- Died
- Birth nameDavid McClure Brinkley
- Brinkley hosted This Week with David Brinkley from 1982 until his retirement in 1997. In 1992, he won a Peabody Award for his report on the 50th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. As a news analyst, Brinkley was known for his terse, biting comments and his dry wit.
- IMDb mini biography by: Diana Fillips
- SpousesSusan Melanie Benfer(June 10, 1972 - June 11, 2003) (his death)Flora Ann Fischer(October 11, 1946 - 1972) (divorced, 3 children)
- ChildrenAlexis Rose West (Adolph) BrinkleyJohn Brinkley
- His distinctive tone of delivering the news began in World War II, when, he said, he took to underlining words to insure the correct emphasis on the radio and developed his "jerky, labored way of speaking." *
- His vocal delivery of the news was known for clipped sentences spoken in measured cadences and in a sardonic voice.
- In his final election night program, in 1996, he called then-President Clinton a bore and telling voters they could expect more "goddamned nonsense" for the next four years. He later apologized to Clinton.
- Surprised many colleagues when he became a spokesman for Archer-Daniels-Midland, the agribusiness company, in 1998.
- Survived by three sons from his first marriage: Joel, a writer for the New York Times; Alan, a provost at Columbia University; and John, a director of the United States Institute for Peace in Washington. He is also survived by a stepdaughter from his second marriage, Alexis Rose West Brinkley Collins.
- "Most of my life I've simply been a reporter covering things, and writing and talking about it." (1992)
- The only way to do news on television is not to be terrified of it. Most of the news isn't very important. In fact, very little of it is.
- I wish to say that we all look forward with great pleasure to four years of wonderful, inspiring speeches, full of wit, poetry, music, love, and affection. Plus more goddamned nonsense.
- A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
