BY RICHARD HUFF, DAILY NEWS TV EDITOR
Thursday, August 4th 2011, 9:47 PM
Local TV legend Gil Noble has been hospitalized after suffering a serious stroke last week.
Noble, the host of WABC/Ch. 7′s “Like It Is,” is stablized, according to Ch. 7′s general manager, Dave Davis.
“I just visited with his family at the hospital, and the good news is he has stabilized and all his vital signs are good,” Davis said in an e-mail message to the station’s staff, obtained by the Daily News.
“For those of us who know Gil, we know the best medicine is his fighting spirit, and all the support from his family and friends,” Davis said.
No other details about his condition or where he’s being treated were released by the station.
Noble, 79, joined Ch. 7 in 1967 as a correspondent. A year later he became an anchor of the station’s weekend newscasts.
In 1968, he also became the host of “Like It Is,” a public affairs show that has been lauded for focusing on issues important to African-Americans.
Since 1986 he’s focused on “Like It Is,” where he’s interviewed a long list of local, national and international newsmakers.
The show airs Sundays at noon.
“‘Like It Is’” offers a rare opportunity to our viewers of all races,” Noble said in a story about the show on Ch. 7′s website, “to look at current and past events through an African-American perspective.”
Besides “Like It Is,” Noble has produced documentaries on such folks as W.E.B Du Bois, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.
“I know you will join me in keeping Gil in your thoughts and prayers, and look forward to welcoming him back to work,” Davis told his staff.
“In his absence, we will air some classic shows of ‘Like It Is.’”
Well Wishes to Gil Noble
Gil Noble, long-time host of the Emmy-award winning show ‘Like It Is’, has been hospitalized after suffering a stroke. He has been stabilized and is resting comfortably with family by his side. We look forward to welcoming Gil back to work. If you’d like to send your thoughts and well wishes to Gil, CLICK BELOW.
News
About Gil Noble
(New York-WABC) — Gil Noble, producer and host of WABC-TV’s weekly public affairs series, “Like It Is,” is recognized locally and nationally as a dedicated journalist whose work has been a part of the struggle of African Americans for advancement. Noble spends long hours of research and investigation to ensure consistently high quality programming through “Like It Is.”
Noble has received over 650 community awards, numerous industry awards including seven Emmys, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Black Journalists, and five honorary doctorates.
“‘Like It Is’” offers a rare opportunity to our viewers of all races,” observes Noble, “to look at current and past events through an African-American perspective.”
Gil Noble
National Visionary: BIOGRAPHY
Born on February 22, 1932 in New York, NY
Journalist, TV Producer, Host, Documentarian
Gil Noble, producer and host of the public affairs program “Like It Is,” has interviewed famous African Americans like Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer and Paul Robeson. During his career, he has worked to correct negative media representations of African Americans and has promoted ethics and objectivity in journalism.
Noble was born in Harlem to Jamaican immigrants Gilbert and Iris Noble. As a teenager, Noble was inspired by pianist Erroll Garner and decided to pursue a career in music. He formed the Gil Noble Trio and played in clubs around New York City while attending City College. After graduating, he worked for Union Carbide and modeled on the side. He met his wife Jean, also a model, during this time.
Noble attempted to break into broadcast by doing voiceovers and television commercials. He became a part-time announcer for WLIB, a Harlem radio station, in 1962. While at WLIB, he also reported, read newscasts, serviced the Associated Press teletype machine and tracked interview tapes. This experience gave him working knowledge of all aspects of a newsroom operation.
In 1967, Noble auditioned for a TV reporter position at WABC. On his second audition assignment, he was called to cover violence in Newark, New Jersey’s Central Ward. Blacks had been shut off by a National Guard barricade while white city officials and journalists stood at the perimeter. Noble was able to cross the barricade and get the story from the black community’s perspective. Because of his reports, he was hired. By 1968, he was anchoring weekend newscasts. At that time, WABC created a black-oriented program in response to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Actor Robert Hooks was the host and Noble was the interviewer. When Hooks accepted an acting job, Noble replaced him as host. In the beginning, “Like It Is” focused on mostly entertainers, however, when Noble became producer in 1975, he turned its focus to the more serious issues of the black experience.
Over the years, Noble saw the documentary as the central focus and most rewarding aspect of his career. “Like It Is” has produced the largest collection of programs and documentaries on the African-American experience in the last half of the 20th century. He says documentaries “remain a powerful weapon to change false values, correct historical error and cure the poison of prejudice in the minds of black and white Americans.” In 2002, he survived an attempt by WABC to cancel his contract and show. Supporters of the show held rallies in its defense and the show remains on the air.
Interviews:
Heads of State:
Sekou Ture (Guinea), Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe), Julius Nyerere (Tanzania), Michael Manley and P.J. Patterson (Jamaica), Maurice Bishop (Grenada), Sam Nujoma (Namibia), Kenneth Kaunda (Zambia), and Thomas Sankara (Burkina-Faso).
Entertainment:
Bill Cosby, Erroll Garner, Sarah Vaughan, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, Carmen McCrae, Aretha Franklin, Nancy Wilson, Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier, Nipsey Russell, Lena Horne, Wynton Marsalis, Milt Jackson and Jackie Mclean.
Sports:
Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Arthur Ashe, and Jim Brown.
Politics/Leaders:
Jesse Jackson, David Dinkins, Harold Washington, Louis Farrakhan, Andrew Young, Stokley Carmichael (Kwame Ture), Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., and Bruce Wright.
Documentaries:
W.E.B. DuBois, Malcolm X(3), Paul Robeson(2), Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Baker, Decade of Struggle, M.L. King Jr., Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Jack Johnson, Charlie Parker, Essay on Drugs.
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