David Hartman (TV personality)

David Hartman
Hartman at the Society of Experimental Test Pilots banquet in 2002
Born	David Downs Hartman (1935-05-19) May 19, 1935 (age 81) Pawtucket, Rhode Island, U.S.
Occupation	Actor Broadcaster
Years active	1964–present
Spouse(s)	Maureen Downey (1974–1997) (her death) Mary Clark Putman (2001–present)

David Downs Hartman (born May 19, 1935) is an American journalist and media host who began his media career as an actor. He currently anchors and hosts documentary programs on cable TV's History and on PBS. Hartman is best known as the first host of ABC's Good Morning America, from 1975 to 1987. As an actor, he starred in the 1970s as a young resident, Dr. Paul Hunter, on The Bold Ones: The New Doctors and as a teacher in the series Lucas Tanner. Notable also for the 1976 TV movie re-make of Miracle On 34th Street

Born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, of German descent, Hartman attended Mount Hermon School (now Northfield Mount Hermon) and was geared toward professional baseball in high school. However, he turned down a baseball scholarship to attend Duke University, where he majored in economics and became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity. After college, he served three years active duty as an officer in the U.S. Air Force, Strategic Air Command. He was a Supply Officer at Dow AFB in Bangor, Maine, and acted in local musicals there, including Oklahoma!, in the role of Curly.

Hartman appeared in two Broadway shows: the original Hello, Dolly! in 1964, and The Yearling (1965). After working in films such as The Ballad of Josie (1967), Nobody's Perfect (1968) and Did You Hear the One About the Traveling Saleslady? (1968), he refocused on television, and won serious attention as a dedicated doctor on The Bold Ones: The New Doctors, winning a nomination for a Golden Globe award.