Bill Downs
| Bill Downs | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
William Randall Downs August 17, 1914 Kansas City, Kansas, U.S. |
| Died | May 3, 1978 (aged 63) Bethesda, Maryland |
| Education | University of Kansas |
| Occupation | |
| Years active | 1937–1978 |
| Spouse(s) | Rosalind Downs |
William Randall "Bill" Downs, Jr. (August 17, 1914 – May 3, 1978) was an American broadcast journalist and war correspondent. He worked for CBS News from 1942 to 1962 and for ABC from 1963 until his death. He was best known for his work with Edward R. Murrow as one of the original Murrow Boys.
Downs reported from both the Eastern and Western fronts during World War II, and was the first to deliver a live broadcast from Normandy to the United States after D-Day. After the surrender in Europe, he joined a press party that toured Asia prior to V-J Day. He entered Tokyo with Allied occupation forces and covered the Japanese surrender, and was among the first Americans in Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the atomic bombings.
He later covered the Bikini Atoll nuclear tests, the Berlin Blockade, and the Korean War. In the 1950s, he was an early and prominent voice urging Murrow to use his platform on See It Now to challenge Senator Joseph McCarthy.
Downs was born in Kansas City, Kansas to William Randall Downs, Sr. and Katherine Lee (née Tyson) Downs. He served as the managing editor of the Daily Kansan at the University of Kansas and graduated in 1937 with an A.B. in journalism. He began his career as a newspaper reporter for the Kansas City Star and the Kansas City Kansan. He soon joined the United Press and worked stints at the Denver and New York bureaus for the next three years. At the end of 1940 he was transferred to London, where he covered the war in Europe as a wire reporter.
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