Don Harrison
Don Harrison (August 8, 1937 – May 2, 1998) was an anchor on CNN Headline News from 1982 until his death from renal cancer in 1998. He was a member of the original team of anchors when Headline News went on the air for the first time as "CNN2" in 1982.
Harrison, a native of Ottawa, Kansas, spent over three decades in the broadcast business. For 11 years he was on the staff of KCMO-TV (now KCTV) in Kansas City, and for another four years he worked for KMSP in Minneapolis-St. Paul. He anchored WBAL Action News in Baltimore in the early 1970s. He was the popular primary anchor at Tampa's WTSP from 1979 to 1982.
Harrison was also in high demand for voice-over work, for instance, for TBS and CNN International. In 1987, Harrison won the CableACE award for best news anchor.
Harrison lost a leg due to bone cancer at age 13 and a kidney, also because of cancer, in 1993. He was married and had two sons and a daughter.
External links
- Photos of Don Harrison at Headline News
- Video clips of Don Harrison on Headline News
- TVARK online museum CNN Headline News entry for 1982
- Find a grave entry
- AP's obituary
- Chicago Sun-Times' obituary
- CNN's obituary
- LA Times' obituary
- Topeka Capital-Journal's obituary
- American Journalism Review article about the time when Don Harrison was almost forced to announce the death of a U.S. president who was still alive
- Harrison joins Baltimore's WBAL-TV in Broadcasting, January 7, 1974