Huell Howser, a Fixture on Los Angeles Station KCET for Decades
The Tennessee native thrived in his adopted city of L.A., where he hosted California's Gold and other travel-related series on public-television station KCET.
Huell Howser, a fixture on California public television for more than two decades, died January 6, 2013, at his Los Angeles-area home. he was 67.
according to news reports, he died of natural causes.
A Tennessee native who graduated from the University of Tennessee, Howser began his television career at Nashville station WSM. From there he hosted a magazine-style program at WCBS in New York before moving to Los Angeles in 1981 for a job as a reporter at local station KCBS.
In 1989, Howser collaborated with public-television station KCET to produce a show called Videolog. This began a long relationship with KCET, where he went on to produce and host California's Gold and several other shows devoted to life in the Golden State, including Visiting with Huell Howser, Road Trip with Huell Howser, California’s Golden Parks, California’s Green, California’s Water and Downtown.
Along the way he touched millions of viewers and built a devoted following drawn by his easygoing nature, Southern twang and unabashed enthusiasm for the topics he covered. He even entered pop culture with roles as himself on the Showtime comedy Weeds and the Fox animated comedy The Simpsons.
In a statement, KCET said, "We are deeply saddened by the news of Huell’s passing. This is a tremendous personal and professional loss to his friends and colleagues, as well as his legions of fans. Huell elevated the simple joys and undiscovered nuggets of living in our great state. He made the magnificence and power of nature seem accessible by bringing it into our living rooms.”
More about Howser's life and career is available at: