Wendell Harris

Wendell Harris (born c. 1933 in Greenville, South Carolina; died June 5, 2012) was a radio and television news anchor.

Harris began working in broadcasting as a student at the University of Alabama in 1952. In 1954 he moved to Birmingham to work for WAPI-FM. He left to serve as a lieutenant in the U. S. Army's Signal Corps.

In 1960 Harris moved to WAPI's television sibling, NBC 13. He stayed there for 21 years, working as a reporter, assignments editor, news anchor and, eventually, news director. In 1977 Harris stepped away from co-anchoring the nightly news and named Pam Huff as his successor. Two years later he hired 23-year-old James Spann to replace long-time weather reporter Rosemary Lucas. In the 1980s, Harris hired anchor Joe Langston and sportscaster Herb Winches away from WBRC 6.

In 1981 Harris moved to Austin, Texas as vice president and general manager of KTBC-TV. Three years later he moved to Dallas to take the same roles with KDFW-TV. He retired in 1993 and moved back to Birmingham.

Harris died in June 2012 after a long hospitalization for lung failure. He was survived by his wife, Alice, and daughters Leisha, Allison, and Shannon. After funeral services at Dawson Memorial Baptist Church he was buried at the Alabama National Cemetery in Montevallo.

References

• Spann, James (June 5, 2012) "We Lose A Legend". ABC 33-40 Weather Blog
• Carlton, Bob (June 6, 2012) "Birmingham broadcasters remember Wendell Harris as a television news pioneer." The Birmingham News