Edwin Newman: 1919-2010

NBC television personality Edwin Newman died Monday due to complications from pneumonia.

Newman served as political and foreign correspondent for NBC from 1952 to 1984, participating in a wide variety of the network's programming, including Meet the Press and The Today Show.

He broke the news of President Kennedy's assassination on NBC Radio in 1963, and served as TV news anchor during coverage of the assassinations of both Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy in 1968.

Between 1967 and 1976, Newman conducted more than 250 interviews with prominent news-makers of the day, including Ingmar Bergman, Muhammad Ali, and the first prime minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion.

He's the only journalist to ever interview Emperor Hirohito.

Newman was also an authority on the proper use of language, penning a number of books on the subject, including Strictly Speaking: Will America be the Death of English? and A Civil Tongue.

Newman was 91 years old.

He is survived by his wife Rigel and their daughter Nancy.