25 Facts About Jim McKay

James Kenneth McManus, better known professionally as Jim McKay, was an American television sports journalist.

Jim McKay is known for television coverage of 12 Olympic Games, and is universally respected for his memorable reporting on the Munich massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Jim McKay covered a wide variety of special events, including horse races such as the Kentucky Derby, golf events such as the British Open, and the Indianapolis 500.

Jim McKay was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and raised in the Overbrook section of the city in an Irish American Catholic family.

Jim McKay attended Our Lady of Lourdes Grade School and Saint Joseph's Preparatory School.

When Jim McKay was 14, he and his family moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where he attended Loyola High School.

Jim McKay received a bachelor's degree from Loyola College in Maryland in 1943.

In 1946, Jim McKay returned to Baltimore and took a position with The Evening Sun as a police reporter.

Jim McKay was promoted to aviation reporter instead of getting a raise.

In 1947, Jim McKay gave up his job as a reporter for The Evening Sun to join that same organization's new TV station WMAR-TV.

Jim McKay's was the first voice ever heard on television in Baltimore.

Jim McKay remained with the station until joining CBS in New York in 1950 as host of a variety show, called The Real Jim McKay, which necessitated the changing of his on-air surname.

From 1958 to 1960, Jim McKay served as host and commentator on the CBS television daytime program The Verdict Is Yours.

Jim McKay was originally tabbed to be the lead broadcaster of the network's coverage of the 1960 Winter Olympics, but had to be replaced by Walter Cronkite after suffering a mental breakdown.

Jim McKay recovered in time to host the 1960 Summer Olympics from the CBS Television studio in Grand Central Terminal.

Jim McKay had a six-episode stint as host of the game show Make the Connection on NBC in 1955.

Jim McKay moved on to ABC in 1961, and was the host of ABC's influential Wide World of Sports for 37 years.

Jim McKay was known to motor racing fans as the host of the ABC's annual delayed telecast of the Indianapolis 500.

Jim McKay was on air for fourteen hours without a break, during a sixteen-hour broadcast.

Jim McKay hosted from the studio the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.

An avid horse racing enthusiast who raised thoroughbreds, Jim McKay founded Maryland Million Day, a series of twelve races designed to promote Maryland's horse breeding industry.

Jim McKay participated in the effort to bring the 2012 Summer Olympics to Baltimore and Washington.

Jim McKay died on June 7,2008, from natural causes at age 86.

Jim McKay was survived by his wife Margaret, son Sean, daughter Mary Guba, and three grandchildren.

Jim McKay died on the same day as the running of the Belmont Stakes.