CHICAGO (WLS) — Longtime WLS TV personality Harry Porterfield died Monday morning after a brief illness, his family said. He was 95.
He died of natural causes surrounded by his family in Münster, according to the family statement.
A look back at the career of Chicago journalist Harry Porterfield
There will be a public memorial in Chicago. These details and private funeral arrangements are still pending.
He leaves behind a wife of 55 years, four children, a grandchild and a great-grandchild.
Harry Porterfield Jr. was born Aug. 29, 1928, in Saginaw, Michigan, his family said.
There he initially worked on radio and television.
“I became a stagehand for television. I operated cameras and set up the stage for Romper Room. I came in and did the 10 o’clock news; “It was 11 a.m. in Michigan at the time,” Porterfield previously said.
Porterfield began his broadcasting career in Chicago in 1964 at WBBM, where he worked for 21 years before moving to WLS-TV in 1985. He worked at WLS-TV for 24 years before returning to WBBM in 2009. He retired in 2015 at the age of 87.
Among his many journalistic accomplishments in the Midwest was his decade-long segment called “Someone You Should Know,” his family said. Porterfield shared the unique stories of thousands of community members that cemented his remarkable influence on Chicagoland and beyond.
At one point, he anchored the Saturday weekend news at WBBM with a small team and not much news to cover.
“And the producer said, well, we should do something during the week that we could hold and save the time that we really needed, especially on Saturdays. We had no news…nothing…nothing to put into the show.” . So let’s call it ‘Some You Should Know,’ and I thought it was the stupidest name I’d ever heard,” Porterfield said.
Porterfield said he left WBBM but the impression was that he had been forced to leave.
As the most recognizable African-American face to anchor a newscast in Chicago at the time, his departure from the station sparked a boycott of Channel 2.
It was an outcry that could be heard across the country.
“The first feeling I have is that I’m humbled because I was at the center of this thing, even if I wasn’t there. I was kind of a phantom in all of this. That boycott, and there was a boycott there.” At Channel 2 there was a picket line outside that station for ten months. Can you believe it? Ten months…to make change happen. I wasn’t there and to think that I was the catalyst for that is really nice overwhelming,” Porterfield said. “But the impact it had was creating a lot of opportunities across the country, and I guess the only thing “What I really am, I guess I’m proud of that because it’s made a lot of people take a second look at the whole business and say that there are some very deserving, very talented people out there who can fill these jobs .
Porterfield also holds a chemistry degree from Eastern Michigan University and a law degree from DePaul.
He received the first Outstanding Journalist Award ever presented by the Chicago Association of Black Journalists, as well as countless other awards, including eleven Emmys and the prestigious DuPont Columbia Journalism Award.
To his family, Porterfield was a caring, warm and dedicated man.
His wife of 55 years said being a storyteller meant the world to him.
“He was happy with his career. “He loved what he did and ‘Someone You Should Know’ just excited him and the people he met while doing it gave him great joy,” said Marianita Hicks Porterfield.
His family said news was a big part of him, even at home.
“Even when you were doing normal things, he would be talking on the news and it was hilarious. It was really funny,” said Eric Shropshire, Porterfield’s son.
“I would be somewhere and someone would say, ‘Porterfield? Are you related?’ “He wrote a story about my cousin, my uncle and my sister. That would bring a smile. A happy thought for them and I just love that about him,” said his daughter Allison Porterfield-Woods.
His only granddaughter, Amanda Porterfield, continues her grandfather’s legacy. She is a respected news anchor in Milwaukee.
“I interned with him when he was at WLS,” she said. “Harry definitely inspired me to get into television. I don’t think I knew it at the time, but when I think about my career, I think, ‘This is what I wanted to do all along.'”
Many of his former colleagues described Porterfield as a consummate professional who made everyone in the newsroom a better person.
“He talked about the legacy that we carry as African-American men in this business. It always impressed me how he understood the dynamics of being an African American in this business because he was a pioneer. “He was one of the first African-American anchors on a new station in America, which is certainly in the top three markets,” said Jim Rose, former sports reporter and anchor of ABC7 Chicago.
“Harry understood the responsibility that came with it, and he knew he had to stay one step ahead of everyone else to gain acceptance and get people to invite him into their homes night after night,” said Tony Shute, former executive producer of ABC7 Chicago said.
“He was one of the nicest people ever. “There was always such a comfort, whether you saw him in the newsroom or sat next to him at the anchor desk, there was a kindness that made you feel warm and safe,” ABC7 Chicago anchor Linda Yu previously said.
It was hard to get Porterfield to talk about his awards, but he would talk about music.
He started playing the violin at the age of 8. A proud member of the Chicago Federation of Musicians, Porterfield played in everything from small groups to symphony orchestras. He played in Do It Yourself Messiah every year.
“Music has always accompanied me. I remember one of the conductors at home once saying, “You know, engaging in music is the most civilized experience you can have.” I thought about it and thought, “You” “I’m right. It does so much. It’s therapeutic. It’s civilizing. It does a lot. It makes you healthy,” he said