Harry Smith (television)
Harry Smith (born
August 21,
1951 in
Lansing, Illinois) is a co-anchor for
CBS'
The Early Show and the host of
A&E's
Biography series. He's also hosted several episodes of Modern Marvels, seen on The History Channel. His most notable "Modern Marvels episode is an episode titled "World Trade Center: An Obituary," a documentary featuring the structural design feats of the former World Trade Center complex that was filmed prior to the attacks, and planned to air at around the time the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks occurred. In that documentary, his most poignant remarks were "The World Trade Center had a life, too. It lived for 27 years as a landmark, a feat of engineering, a tourist attraction, a workplace. We here at the History Channel had been planning this hour about the life of the World Trade Center prior to the awful events of Sept. 11. This hour was supposed to be a documentary. It is now an obituary."
Smith has also hosted several documentarys on holidays for the
History Channel to include:
Christmas,
Thanksgiving, and
Holloween.
Smith began his broadcasting career at
Denver radio stations KHOW and KIMN and
Cincinnati radio station WLW (1973-81). From 1981-82, he worked for Denver's public television station, KRMA-TV. From 1982-85, he served as a reporter and anchor for KMGH-TV, the CBS affiliate in Denver. In 1986, Smith joined
CBS News as a reporter and was later named a correspondent in 1987.
For 13 years, Smith was a contributor to
The CBS Evening News with Dan Rather,
48 Hours, and CBS News documentaries. From 1987-96, he served as a co-anchor for
CBS This Morning. In 2002, Smith joined
The Early Show.
In addition to his TV assignments, Smith does the daily "Harry Smith Reporting" commentary for the
CBS Radio Network.
Smith received his B.A. degree in communications and theater from
Central College in
Pella, Iowa. He lives in
New York with his wife, sports reporter
Andrea Joyce, and their two sons.