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Jack Whitaker

Jack Whitaker

Acting

Biography

​Born in Philadelphia, Whitaker joined WCAU-TV in Philadelphia, where he broadcast weather and sports. His colleagues included Ed McMahon and John Facenda. Whitaker also did color commentary for the Philadelphia Eagles in the late 50s. He also became a play-by-play broadcaster in 1960, when the Eagles won the NFL Championship.​ In 1961, Whitaker joined CBS Sports, where he covered the first Super Bowl, Secretariat’s Triple Crown, golf’s majors, and boxing. He also served as a studio host for The NFL Today. Of all the sports Whitaker covered, golf was the sport he enjoyed the most. Whitaker did get in a bit of trouble at the 1966 Masters when he offended the Masters chairman, Clifford Roberts, by referring to the gallery at the 18th hole as a “mob.” ​Whitaker covered Ruffian’s life-threatening injury and fatal breakdown in 1975. It inspired a passage Whitaker commented on. “A false step here and the years of planning and breeding and training and loving came to an end. A horse with speed, stamina, and heart. A horse, like the Bible says, ‘whose neck is clothed in thunder.’” ​Whitaker moved to ABC in 1982. Whitaker participated in the Olympic Games in 1984 and 1988. He also covered sports for World News Tonight, 20/20, and Nightline. He provided historical imagery while broadcasting, including what he said during the 1982 British Open in Scotland: “Playing in the British Open is like reading American history at Independence Hall or studying opera at La Scala. It’s golf at its most simple, its most pure, its most magnificent.” ​Whitaker was also honored with numerous awards, including an Emmy in 1979, induction into the Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame in Philadelphia in 2003, and a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Sports Emmy Awards in 2012. Another accolade was that Whitaker was the only living play-by-play announcer from the first 21 Super Bowls. Jack Whitaker passed away in 2019 at the age of 95.

Known For

Animated Hero Classics
6.3

Animated Hero Classics is an educational Animated television series of programs co-produced by Nest Family Entertainment and Warner Bros. The series, geared toward elementary school aged children, includes twenty biographies of both female and male scientists, inventors, explorers, and social champions from around Europe, North America and the Middle East, including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Florence Nightingale, Harriet Tubman, Joan of Arc, Benjamin Franklin, Helen Keller, Marco Polo, Marie Curie and Louis Pasteur. The Children's Television Act of 1990 required terrestrial television networks to devote time to Educational and Informative programming for children. Even though Warner Bros' cable networks were not directly affected by these requirements, these programs were debuted on their HBO network's Saturday morning children's block as a show of good faith that the network was committed to quality educational programming for children. The dramatic biographies were meticulously researched by the producers and written to engage both children and adults, providing an entertaining and accessible way to learn about the positive impact that these women and men have had on our world.

Animated Hero Classics

1991Series
Spirit of Golf

In his new film, Spirit of Golf, photographer and documentary filmmaker Christopher Felver traces his personal 20-year odyssey in search of the essence of the “auld Scots game.” Inspired by Michael Murphy’s book, Golf in the Kingdom, he travels to many of golf’s historic, fabled courses: St Andrews, Pebble Beach, Augusta National, among others. He interviews many of the game’s great champions and more than a few colorful characters, who are asked the question, “What is the spirit of golf?” We hear from Arnold Palmer, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, the wonderfully unique Moe Norman, Kathy Whitworth and Nancy Lopez, and notable teachers such as David Leadbetter, “Butch” Harmon and commentators Herbert Warren Wind, Jack Whitaker, and Jim Nantz. All the answers are marvelously diverse, funny, and poetic… just like the game itself.

Spirit of Golf

2023Movie