Howard Cosell Biography, Life, Interesting Facts

Howard Cosell was born on March 25, 1918, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA. His parents were Nellie and Isidore Cohen. Later in life, Howard began going by the name Howard Cosell, which is the name he is best known for now.

Education

As a young adult, Howard Cosell attended New York University. While there, he studied English Literature. After graduating from this school, Cosell went on to study at the New York University of Law, where he earned his law degree and was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1941.

Careers

After earning his law degree, Howard Cosell left New York to serve in the United States military during World War II. He stayed in the army until the end of the war. During this time, Cosell rose to the rank of major.

After the war, Howard Cosell returned to New York and began his law career. Many of his clients were famous and influential people. His time as a lawyer allowed him to meet many interesting sports players, which is how he initially became interested in sports broadcasting. However, it was not until 1953 that he began his sports broadcasting career, but working on a radio show. In 1956, ABC bought Cosell’s radio show. It was in this same year that Cosell quit his law career to focus on his sports broadcasting full-time.

Howard Cosell had earned fame from his sports broadcasting in the 1950’s, and by the time the 1960’s came around, he had decided to become even more involved in sports. In 1961, he began working as a sports journalist. He also appeared a guest radio star on several radio stations around the United States. It was also around this time that he began working for WABC-TV as a sports newscaster.

In the 1970’s, Howard Cosell began broadcasting at live sporting events. It was in 1970 that he began working as a commentator on Monday Night Football on ABC. While working on this show, Howard Cosell also commented on other various sporting events. In 1975, he also became working on another ABC sports show, Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell. He also hosted the show Network Stars in the mid-1970’s.

In the 1980’s, Howard Cosell continued to comment on sports games for ABC. During one of the games he was commenting on, in 1980, Howard Cosell had to announce John Lennon’s death during the middle of a game. During the 1980’s, he was best known for his commentary on boxing matches. In 1984, he retired from Monday Night Football. He later left television to return to sports broadcasting on the radio.

Publications

Near the end of his career, Howard Cosell began writing books, most of them autobiographical in nature. He wrote some of his books on his own and wrote others with other authors. Some of his most famous books are listed below.

Cosell
Like It Is
What’s Wrong with Sports
I Never Played the Game (co-written with Peter Bonventre)

Family Life

Howard Cosell married Mary Abrams in 1944. The couple had two children together: Hilary and Jill Cosell. The marriage ended with Abrams death. He did not remarry.

Death

Howard Cosell died on April 23, 1995. His cause of death was a cardiac embolism. He was 77 years old when he passed away.