Howard Cosell

Howard Cosell Famous memorial Original Name William Howard Cohen Birth 25 Mar 1918 Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina, USA Death 23 Apr 1995 (aged 77) New York, New York County (Manhattan), New York, USA Burial Westhampton Cemetery Westhampton, Suffolk County, New York, USA Show Map Plot Row I (just before the cemetery house) approx. 200 feet on the right in the row with a bench. Memorial ID 7960 · View Source Memorial Photos 4 Flowers 964 Television Sportscaster. He gained wide fame and acclaim during his tenure as a football commentator on ABC's "Monday Night Football". Born Howard William Cohen in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and raised in Brooklyn, New York, he attended New York University, where he received a degree in law and was admitted to the New York State Bar at the age of 23. He served in the Army during World War II, and opened a law office in Manhattan upon his release, which counted several actors and athletes among his clients, including baseball legend Willie Mays. He also represented the Little League of New York, and this led to his hosting a Saturday morning radio show in which Little Leaguers interviewed major league baseball players. He did the show for three years, and finally retired from practicing law to work as a broadcaster full-time. His greatest fame came in the form of ABC's "Monday Night Football", when ABC decided to take a chance by putting a sports event on in prime time. It was wildly popular, and for thirteen years Cosell brought his style of "telling it like it is" to football fans every Monday night. He also appeared in the movie "Bananas", directed by Woody Allen, and appeared twice on the television series "The Odd Couple". These two episodes were the highest rated in the program's entire run. In 1978, he was voted as both the most hated sportscaster of all time, and the most loved sportscaster of all time. He was also famous for his friendship with boxing legend Muhammad Ali and defended Ali when he refused to be inducted into the Army during the Viet Nam war. Cosell retired from ringside broadcasting at boxing games in 1982, which he had done beginning in the 1960s, and left "Monday Night Football" in 1983. He also authored four best-selling books and hosted a weekly radio program for ABC radio until 1992. In poor health since being diagnosed with cancer in 1991, he died of a heart embolism at New York University's Hospital for Joint Diseases at age 77. Raised marker: COSELL We Thank Whatever Gods May Be For Your Unconquerable Souls In Loving Memory Ground marker: IN LOVING MEMORY HOWARD WILLIAM COSELL 1918 - 1995 Family Members Parents Isidore Martin Cohen 1889–1957 Spouse Mary Edith Abrams Cosell 1921–1990 (m. 1944)