- Born
- Died
- Birth nameHoward William Cohen
- Nickname
- "Humble" Howard Cosell
- Height6′ 1″ (1.85 m)
- When you think of the words honesty, straight from the shoulder, and tell it like it is, you think of one man: Howard Cosell. Howard is best remembered as the greatest sportscaster in the history of sports. His way with words and ability of telling like it was, brought him fame not only in America, but all over the world. Perhaps, no one will ever forget the memorable moments that he and Muhammad Ali spent together. How they made fun of each other and played with each other are legendary.
Howard also appeared several times with Dean Martin in the 70s on some of Dean's celebrity roasts, honoring people like Bob Hope, Bette Davis, Mr. T, even Dean Martin himself, and probably the man whom he knew the most: Muhammad Ali. After the 80s, Cosell drifted away from fame. On April 23, 1995, Howard passed away with heart embolism. But, surely, no one ever forgets how honest and straight-going Howard Cosell was.- IMDb mini biography by: deanmartin101<gironda@verizon.net>
- SpouseMary Edith Abrams(June 23, 1944 - November 18, 1990) (her death, 2 children)
- Strange accent, exaggeratedly impeccable diction, and snarky demeanor
- Commanding, nasally voice
- Was openly against the hiring of ex-athletes for sportscasting roles solely based on their playing fame. He felt that many qualified candidates who never played sports were being unfairly overlooked for these positions. He used the term "jockocracy" to describe this.
- Was said to be a very devout family man who never recovered from his wife's death.
- Was a lawyer before becoming a sports announcer.
- Son of Nellie (Rosenthal) and Isadore M. Cohen, an accountant. His father was a Russian Jewish immigrant. His mother was born in Massachusetts, to Russian Jewish parents, and her own father was a rabbi.
- On Dec. 8, 1980 at 11:30 pm while broadcasting a game between the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots on NFL Monday Night Football (1970), he was the first person to publicly announce the death of John Lennon. This was long before there was the Internet and 24-hour news channels. Concidentally, Lennon had appeared in the broadcast booth on NFL Monday Night Football (1970) exactly five years earlier (Dec. 8, 1975).
- I'm telling it like it is.
- [While announcing an Monday Night Football game] "Films from tonight's game should be taken to schools all across the country as an example of a study in futility."
- Professional boxing is no longer worthy of civilized society. It's run by self-serving crooks, who are called promoters.... Except for the fighters, you're talking about human scum.... Professional boxing is utterly immoral. It's not capable of reformation. I now favor the abolition of professional boxing. You'll never clean it up. Mud can never be clean.
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