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Jim Vance

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For other people named Jim Vance, see James Vance (disambiguation).
Jim Vance
Born
James Howard Vance III

(1942-01-10)January 10, 1942
Ardmore, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedJuly 22, 2017(2017-07-22) (aged 75)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Alma materCheyney University
Occupation(s)Television news anchor
(1969–2017)

James Howard "Jim" Vance III (January 10, 1942 – July 22, 2017)[1] was an American television news anchor in Washington, D.C.

Early life

Born on January 10, 1942,[2] Vance grew up in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, a suburb west of Philadelphia.[3] His father, James Vance Jr., was a veteran of World War II.[3] James Vance Jr. died of cirrhosis of the liver when his son was nine years old.[3] "When my old man died, I was convinced that it was my fault. I was convinced I was such a piece of shit that he'd rather die than hang out with me," Jim Vance later said.[3] His grandparents raised him while his mother, Eleanor, lived and worked in Philadelphia.[3] Vance felt his mother had abandoned him, and he kept a lot of resentment against his mother for decades.[3]

As a teenager, Vance wanted to be a plumber like his grandfather, but his grandparents encouraged him to attend college.[3] Vance earned a Bachelor of Science degree in secondary education from Cheyney University, a historically black university in Cheyney, Pennsylvania.[4] Vance was friends with Ed Bradley at Cheyney University.[3]

Career

Vance began his news career as a reporter for the Philadelphia Independent newspaper and WHAT-AM radio station,[5] while simultaneously teaching English for three years.[6] A friend mentioned that WKBS-TV was searching for someone for their newly started news operation, and Vance suddenly realized he was working in the wrong profession.[7] Vance worked as a reporter for WKBS for one year[8] and was then hired by Washington's WRC-TV in 1969.[8]

In 1972, Vance became WRC-TV's main co-anchor, as one of the first African Americans to serve in this position at any American television station.[9] The station received a lot of hate mail when Vance was promoted to co-anchor.[3]

Between 1972 and 1976, Vance worked as co-anchor with Glenn Rinker at WRC-TV.[10] Between 1976 and 1980, Vance co-anchored with Sue Simmons, a pairing that resulted in one of the first, if not the first, African-American co-anchors of a major market newscast.[11]

Beginning in 1989, Vance was part of the longest-running anchor team in Washington television, alongside co-anchor and health reporter Doreen Gentzler. In the nation’s capital, Vance’s 11pm newscasts with Gentzler regularly drew more viewers than the prime-time shows of the three major cable networks, combined (CNN, Fox and MSNBC).[1] He is famous on the Internet for appearing in a video with sports anchor George Michael where they laughed uproariously at a model who fell twice on a runway. [12] [13]

Vance had an extremely brief cameo as himself in the 2009 movie State of Play. Vance also appeared as himself in a 2010 episode of the NBC series The Event and in a 2013 edition of another NBC series, The Blacklist. [14]

Awards and honors

Vance earned 19 local Emmy Awards. One of the Emmy awards was for his coverage of the 1977 Hanafi Siege of three buildings in downtown Washington, D.C.[15] Vance earned another Emmy award for his coverage of the January 1982 crash of Air Florida Flight 90 in the Potomac River, which killed 78 people, and a Metrorail train derailment the same day, which killed three people.[1]

Vance was inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame on August 10, 2007.[16] Vance was named "Washingtonian of the Year" by Washingtonian magazine in 1976.[17]

Personal life

Jim Vance lived in Silver Spring, MD. Vance was married briefly for 10 months, to Margo L. Vance (deceased 2014) when he was 19 and has a daughter Dawn from that marriage. A second marriage to Barbara Schmidt-Vance also ended in divorce in the mid-1980s. In 1987, he married his third wife, Kathy McCampbell Vance, a television producer and former WRC-TV executive.[18][19] His other two children are daughter Amani (b. 1972), from his second wife, and son Brendon (b. 1976). He has two grandsons and one granddaughter.[20]

Vance battled a cocaine addiction in the late 1970s and early 1980s, later going public with the ordeal.[17][18] Vance checked into the Betty Ford Center in 1984.[18] One night in 1987, Vance sat on the ground by the Potomac River at Great Falls, and he stuck his bird-hunting shotgun in his mouth and considered pulling the trigger.[3] Vance stopped, lowered the shotgun, and cried.[3] College friend Ed Bradley encouraged him to seek therapy,[3] and Vance went for help at a dingy downtown support group "full of old-school drunks" the next day.[3] In 2014, Vance spoke about his mother's verbal abuse of him as a child, and he advocated against that form of discipline.[21]

In May 2017, Vance revealed he was battling cancer, but he said he would continue working through treatment.[22] Vance died peacefully in his sleep at 7:20am on July 22, 2017 with his daughter Amani by his side. He was 75.[23] At the time of his death, Vance was the region's longest-serving television news anchor with more than 45 years at WRC-TV.[23]

References

  1. ^ a b c Schudel, Matt. "Jim Vance, Washington’s longest-serving local news anchor, is dead at 75", The Washington Post, July 22, 2017.
  2. ^ Heil, Emily, "5 minutes with Jim Vance", The Washington Post, January 11, 2017, p. C2.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Farhi, Paul, "Jim & Doreen: NBC4's top-rated anchors are still leading the pack after 25 years", The Washington Post, July 25, 2014.
  4. ^ "Jim Vance". NBC4 Washington. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  5. ^ Farhi, Paul, "Jim Vance Off the Air: WRC Anchor's Next Move Unclear as Contract Expires", The Washington Post, January 29, 2000, p. C1.
  6. ^ "'Oscars for Teachers' Recognizes Outstanding D.C. Educators". Education Week Teaching Now blog. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  7. ^ "Gillam, Dorothy. "When the Tube Goes Black", The Washington Post, November 9, 1969, p. 283.
  8. ^ a b Laurent, Lawrence, "Channel Changes". The Washington Post, July 19, 1969, p. C5.
  9. ^ Carmody, John, "WRC: Vance In, Boggs Out", The Washington Post. March 21, 1972, p. B4.
  10. ^ "Glenn Rinker, 59, Dies; Was WRC-TV Anchor From '69 to Mid-1970s". The Washington Post, February 20, 1993, p. D7.
  11. ^ "Little Known Black History Fact: Remembering Jim Vance". blackamericaweb.com. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  12. ^ "News reader cannot stop laughing at model falling over". YouTube.com. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  13. ^ "Jim Vance, George Michael Laugh as Model Falls on Runway". nbcwashington.com. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  14. ^ "Jim Vance". TheHistoryMakers.org. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  15. ^ Rescott, Jacqueline, "Vance Cites Drug Problem: WRC Anchor Takes Leave for Treatment Vance Cites Drug Problem", The Washington Post, January 10, 1985, p. B1.
  16. ^ "Jim Vance inducted into NABJ Hall of Fame", Afro-American Red Star, August 25, 2007, p. A1, A3.
  17. ^ a b Segraves, Mark. "Jim Vance Interview: Washington's Favorite Newscaster on the Iffy State of TV, the Booming State of DC, and Whether You Can Do Too Much Weather Coverage", Washingtonian, September 25, 2014. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
  18. ^ a b c Rich, Cindy, "NBC4's Jim Vance and Doreen Gentzler Unscripted Moments", Washingtonian, July 19, 2011. Retrieved April 19, 2015. Archived from the original on January 26, 2012.
  19. ^ Paul Farhi (July 25, 2014). "Jim & Doreen: NBC4's top-rated anchors are still leading the pack after 25 years". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
  20. ^ "Happy Birthday VANCE! - OhMyGoff". ohmygoff.tv. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  21. ^ "Video - NBC4 Washington". nbcwashington.com. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  22. ^ Farhi, Paul. "Channel 4 anchor Jim Vance tells colleagues he has cancer", The Washington Post, May 5, 2017, p. C2.
  23. ^ a b Bradford, Jackie, "News4 Anchor Jim Vance Dies at 75", WRC-TV, July 22, 2017. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
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