Heywood Hale Broun papers, 1873-2001 (bulk 1925-1984)

Heywood Hale Broun (1918-2001) was an author, sportswriter, sports commentator, and actor. Born in New York City in 1918 to activist Ruth Hale and columnist Heywood Broun, he attended Swarthmore College before beginning his journalism career at PM, a New York tabloid, in 1940. His work there was interrupted by military service during World War II, where he served in the U.S. Army field artillery. After the war, Broun returned to PM and later wrote for its successor, the New York Star, until it closed in 1949. He pursued a concurrent acting career, appearing in thirteen Broadway productions between 1949 and 1967, and later acted in films such as The Odd Couple (1968) and Housesitter (1992). In 1966, he joined CBS as a sports commentator, covering major events such as Super Bowls I and III, Secretariat’s Triple Crown win, and the 1968 and 1972 Olympic Games. He was a fixture on the CBS Evening News Saturday edition and profiled regional sports stories across the country. Broun married Jane Lloyd Jones, and the couple had one son, author Heywood Orren Broun, known as Hob, who predeceased his parents in 1987.

Broun’s later career expanded into radio and literature. Beginning in 1973, he hosted the nationally syndicated radio program The Literary Guild's First Edition, later renamed Broun on Books, which featured interviews with authors and cultural figures over the course of more than 200 episodes. His guests included Kurt Vonnegut, Pete Seeger, and Rosalind Cash. Broun also authored several books, including “A Studied Madness” (1965), “Tumultuous Merriment” (1979), and a family memoir, “Whose Little Boy Are You?” (1983). He died in 2001 in Kensington, New York at the age of 83. Following his death ESPN Classic debuted a series in 2002 titled Woodie’s World, which showcased his earlier CBS featurettes. Each 30-minute episode typically included four of Broun’s original stories with updated context as needed.