PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Longtime KYW Newsradio anchor Harry Donahue has died at 77 years old after a bout with cancer.
KYW Newsradio confirmed the news with Donahue’s family on Wednesday.
Donahue joined KYW Newsradio as a freelance reporter in 1974 and became an anchor in 1979, beginning a 35-year run as a Morning Drive and Sports anchor. Countless Philadelphians came to know Donahue’s voice as he brought the news, traffic, weather and much-longed-for snow days over the airwaves in his time at the station.
He was also a fixture in the city’s sports radio scene, doing play-by-play for the Philadelphia Stars — the city’s USFL team in the 1980s — and was the TV and radio voice of Temple football and basketball for more than two decades. Donahue was also the host of Comcast SportsNet’s “Inside Golf.” He also had 15 years at NFL Films and was the occasional TV voice for Philadelphia Eagles preseason games, Atlantic-10 basketball and the Philadelphia 76ers.
He retired from Newsradio in 2014 and was promptly inducted into the KYW Newsradio Hall of Fame. In 2000, Donahue was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.
When celebrating the station’s 60th anniversary, Donahue called himself “the luckiest fan in the world” as someone born and raised in Philadelphia’s Olney neighborhood.
“Who gets a chance to cover these types of teams, these types of individuals in the city where they grew up,” Donahue said. “That was the special part for me.”