October 23, 1983: NBC journalist Jessica Savitch is killed in a car crash. She was only 36 years old.
Jessica Beth Savitch was born on February 1, 1947 in Wilmington, Delaware, and grew up in Margate City, New Jersey, outside Atlantic City. There was a radio station in nearby Pleasantville, and she became South Jersey's 1st female rock and roll disc jockey. After graduating from Ithaca College, she got a job at a station in nearby Rochester, New York, calling herself "Honeybee."
In 1969, she was hired as an administrative assistant at New York radio station WCBS, who wouldn't hire her as a reporter, because she had no experience at that. So she used their facilities to make audition tapes. She was hired as the 1st female reporter at Houston station KHOU-Channel 11, and went on to become their weekend anchor, making her the 1st female news anchor in the South.
In 1972, she went back to her home region, as reporter and weekend anchor at KYW-Channel 3 in Philadelphia, then an NBC affiliate (now CBS). She became noon and weeknight anchor as well, to the point that women in Philadelphia copied her hairstyle.
In 1976, the power cut out during the 1st Presidential debate between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, held in Philadelphia. Savitch was on-site, and helped fill the dead air while the power was restored. That impressed the NBC brass, and, the next year, they offered her a post as Washington, D.C. correspondent for The NBC Nightly News.
They were especially impressed by her improvised delivery on the story of the Jonestown Massacre in 1978, a story for which they didn't have a prepared script, and with footage she hadn't yet seen. In 1980, she became the program's weekend anchor, and delivered the nightly 8:58 and 9:58 PM newsbreaks, NBC News Digest. In 1982, a TV Guide poll named her the 4th-most-trusted news anchor in the country.
She married twice, the 1st marriage ending in divorce, the 2nd ending when her husband, suffering from depression and drug issues, took his own life. She had no children. On October 3, 1983, during a News Digest segment, she ad-libbed her report and seemed to be slurring her words. And yet, in the later News Digest, she was fine. People began to wonder if she was drunk, or using drugs. She explained the problem the first time around as being with her Teleprompter.
Twenty days later, on October 23, she had dinner at Chez Odette (now the River House at Odette's), a restaurant in New Hope, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The town is on the Delaware River, across from Lambertville, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, 73 miles southwest of Midtown Manhattan, and 33 miles northeast of Center City Philadelphia. With her was a new boyfriend, Martin Fischbein, vice president of the New York Post.
Fischbein began to drive home in the rain, and the car fell into the adjoining Pennsylvania Canal, sinking into the mud, which prevented their escape. Fischbein, Savitch and her dog all died. An autopsy reported no drugs in either passenger's system, and while both had alcohol in their blood, it was only enough to amount to one glass of wine for each. Still, between the wine and the rain, it was enough to impair Fischbein, and kill him and Savitch.
In 1988, Gwenda Blair published Almost Golden: Jessica Savitch and the Selling of Television News, which put Savitch's life in the larger context of her industry. People who knew Savitch ripped it for its many inaccuracies. Nevertheless, in 1995, it was made into a movie, starring Sela Ward -- a brunette playing blonde.
In 1988, Alanna Nash published Golden Girl: The Story of Jessica Savitch, which was also heavily criticized for inaccuracies. As a result, the film it was adapted into, Up Close and Personal, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert Redford, was changed to a totally fictional story, very loosely based on Savitch's career.
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October 23, 1983 was a Sunday. This was the same day that a suicide bomber killed 241 U.S. troops at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. I have a separate entry for that event.
The baseball season had ended a week before, when the Baltimore Orioles beat the Philadelphia Phillies to win the World Series. The NBA season began 5 days later. The NHL season had gotten underway, and 4 games were played that day:
* The New York Rangers beat the New York Islanders, 6-5 at Madison Square Garden. Peter Sundstrom scored the winning goal, 1 minute and 13 seconds into overtime.
* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 8-5 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Winnipeg Jets, 5-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
* And the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Calgary Flames, 7-4 at Chicago Stadium.
And there was a full slate of NFL games:
* The New York Jets lost to the Atlanta Falcons, 27-21 at Shea Stadium. This would be their last season at Shea, or in New York City, for that matter. They moved to the Meadowlands the next season.
* The Chicago Bears beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 7-6 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
* The Miami Dolphins beat the Baltimore Colts, 21-7 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. This would be the Colts' last season in Baltimore. They moved to Indianapolis the next season.
* The Washington Redskins beat the Detroit Lions, 38-17 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.
* The New Orleans Saints beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 24-21 at Tampa Stadium.
* The New England Patriots beat the Buffalo Bills, 31-0 at Rich Stadium (later Ralph Wilson Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.
* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Cleveland Browns, 28-21 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers, 20-17 in overtime at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
* The Los Angeles Raiders beat the Dallas Cowboys, 40-38 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving.
* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Houston Oilers, 13-10 in overtime at the Astrodome in Houston.
* The Denver Broncos beat the San Diego Chargers, 14-6 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.
* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Los Angeles Rams, 45-35 at Anaheim Stadium.
* And the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks, 27-21 at the Kingdome in Seattle.
* The next night, on Monday Night Football, the New York Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals played to a 20-20 tie at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.
