Albany

Ed O'Brien, a mainstay of Capital Region broadcasting who made his television debut as a child, died of cancer Tuesday in St. Peter's Hospice Inn. He was 59.

O'Brien, who was born and raised in Albany, worked decades in radio and television jobs and specialized in sports and news reporting. Viewers may remember him from WRGB CBS-6, which he joined in 1991 and rose to morning anchor in 1994.

Greg Floyd, a news anchor at WRGB who met O'Brien in 1982, said he had an on-air style that was unique because he came across not only as hard-nosed, but also caring.

"Ed was a newsman's newsman," Floyd said. "Tough as nails, old-school and cared about getting the story and getting it right. He lived for this business."

O'Brien was practically born into broadcasting. As a toddler, his family said, he would watch television while taking baths and mimic ABC sportscaster Jim McKay, one of his broadcasting heroes.

O'Brien made his first appearance on television as a child with Freddie Freihofer on WRGB's Breadtime Stories, and he debuted on the radio in 1970 at age 14 in a show on WOKO called "Teenagers in Country Music." He worked in radio during the golden years of the 1970s with well-known personalities Don Weeks and Boom Boom Brannigan. O'Brien reported sports on television for WTEN Ch.10. He covered the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, where he got to meet McKay, and over the years interviewed baseball great Reggie Jackson, NBA coach and Schenectady native Pat Riley and boxing champion Mike Tyson from Catskill.

O'Brien had a way of connecting with people, those who knew him said. Longtime friend and television journalist John McLoughlin described O'Brien as a tall Irish elf with a kind of impishness about him.

"He had a great, mischievous sense of humor," McLoughlin said. He called O'Brien one of the best newsmen he ever met.

O'Brien loved the New York Yankees and Saratoga Race Course. He enjoyed relaxing to Elvis, Frank Sinatra and New York Times' crossword puzzles. Eventually, his personality and skill for storytelling led him to become a morning newscaster at WRGB. Over the years, he grew into one of the longest-tenured news personalities in the region.

"At Channel 6, he became an immediate part of the family and took the morning show and made it his own," recalled Ken Screven, who was a longtime reporter for the station. "He carved out a special kind of niche."

Floyd accompanied O'Brien on a vacation during the 1980s in which they toured each professional baseball stadium in California. He said he spent time reminiscing with O'Brien during his final weeks. At one point, they spoke about a mother of two who works at WRGB and is suffering from cancer. O'Brien said he wished he could take her cancer, too, Floyd said. Even in his suffering, O'Brien was thinking of others.

"We're not going to see his like again," Floyd said.

In his obituary, his family wrote: "His booming voice, natural cadence, affability, quick wit, Jeopardy-like intelligence, inspiration and ability to connect with people, made Ed a natural broadcaster and journalist."

O'Brien is survived by his daughter, Jaclyn Bailey O'Brien of Alexandria, Va., best friend, Kelly Wagner, and five brothers and sisters.

Calling hours will be from 10 a.m. to noon Friday in the Hans Funeral Home, 1088 Western Ave. A service will follow. Memorial contributions may be made to Old Friends at Cabin Creek, 483 Sand Hill Road, Greenfield Center, NY 12833.

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