Curt Gowdy
| Curt Gowdy | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Curtis Edward Gowdy July 31, 1919 Green River, Wyoming |
| Died | February 20, 2006 (aged 86) Palm Beach, Florida |
| Cause of death | Leukemia |
| Resting place | Mount Auburn Cemetery Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| Nationality | United States |
| Alma mater | University of Wyoming, 1942 |
| Occupation | Sportscaster |
| Spouse(s) | Jerre Dawkins (m. 1949–2006; his death) |
| Children | 2 sons, 1 daughter |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |
 United States
|
| Service/branch |
 U.S. Army Air Forces
|
| Years of service | 1942–1943 |
| Notes | |
Curtis Edward "Curt" Gowdy (July 31, 1919 – February 20, 2006) was an American sportscaster, well known as the longtime "voice" of the Boston Red Sox and for his coverage of many nationally televised sporting events, primarily for NBC Sports in the 1960s and 1970s.
The son of Jack Gowdy, a manager and dispatcher for the Union Pacific railroad, Curt Gowdy was born in Green River, Wyoming, and moved to Cheyenne at age six. As a high school basketball player in the 1930s, he led the state in scoring. He enrolled at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, where he was a 5'9" (175 cm) starter on the basketball team and played varsity tennis, lettering three years in both sports for the Cowboys. He was also a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.
After graduating in 1942 with a degree in business statistics, Gowdy aimed to become a fighter pilot, but a ruptured disk in his spine from a previous sports injury cut short his service in the Army Air Force, leading to a medical discharge in 1943.
In November of that year, recovering from back surgery, Gowdy made his broadcasting debut in Cheyenne calling a "six-man" high school football game from atop a wooden grocery crate in subzero weather, with about 15 people in attendance. He found he had a knack for broadcasting, and worked at the small KFBC radio station and at the Wyoming Eagle newspaper as a sportswriter (and later sports editor). After several years in Cheyenne, he accepted an offer from CBS's KOMA radio in Oklahoma City in 1946. He was hired primarily to broadcast Oklahoma college football (then coached by new-hire Bud Wilkinson) and Oklahoma State college basketball games (then coached by Hank Iba). In Oklahoma, he met his wife, Jerre Dawkins, a graduate student at OU.
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