Dorothy Fuldheim, who helped pioneer the way for women in broadcast journalism and was still doing nightly television commentaries at age 91, died Friday of complications from a stroke. She was 96.
During her career, Ms. Fuldheim interviewed every U.S. president from Franklin Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan and was the first woman news commentator on the ABC radio network."She was probably the first woman to be taken seriously doing the news," said Barbara Walters of ABC News. "She had verve, courage and personality. She showed that age need not be a factor when you have the expertise and the energy. I knew Dorothy Fuldheim, and she made us all proud."
Ms. Fuldheim died at 3:07 a.m. at Mt. Sinai Medical Center, according to hospital spokeswoman Mary Beth Schotzinger. She had been living in a Cleveland nursing home until she was admitted to the hospital Oct. 19.
Ms. Fuldheim began her television career in 1947, when she was 54 years old, as the news anchorwoman for WEWS-TV in Cleveland. She had nearly 37 unbroken years with the station.
Ms. Fuldheim's manner of presentation was sometimes poetic and usually feisty.
Ms. Fuldheim was both a news reporter and commentator at WEWS in the 1950s and early 1960s. She then hosted an afternoon interview program before doing interviews on a daily noon newscast and news commentary on 6 p.m. newscasts toward the end of her career.