Jack Perkins, NBC newscaster who became host of A&E’s ‘Biography,’ dies at 85
Khai Le
“Jack Perkins, a longtime NBC newscaster who later served as the urbane, deep-voiced host of “Biography” on the A&E cable network, died Aug. 19 at his home on Casey Key, Fla. He was 85.
He had Parkinson’s disease, said a son, Eric Perkins.
Early in his career at NBC, Mr. Perkins was a foreign correspondent in Asia and helped cover many notable stories of the 1960s, including the Cuban missile crisis, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the Vietnam War.
Five years later, as a California correspondent for NBC, Mr. Perkins covered the killing of the president’s brother, Robert F. Kennedy, at a Los Angeles hotel. He went without sleep for almost 36 hours, describing the chaotic events of June 1968, while Kennedy was campaigning for the presidency. Mr. Perkins later obtained a two-hour jailhouse interview with Kennedy’s assailant, Sirhan Sirhan.”