Former ‘Today’ show star Jim Hartz who co-hosted with Barbara Walters in the

Jim Hartz, a ‘folksy newsman’ who hosted the Today show with Barbara Walters in the 1970s, has died in Fairfax County, Virginia. He was 82.

Hartz died on April 17 from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to his wife, Alexandra Dickson Hartz, as reported by Deadline on Sunday. 

When the former WNBC  anchor Hartz joined the Today show in 1974 at the age of 34, he succeeded Frank McGee, who had died months earlier at age 58. 

His stint at Today lasted only two years, but Hartz covered big time stories, including President Richard M. Nixon’s resignation, the end of the Vietnam War and the American Bicentennial. 

Jim Hartz, a ‘folksy newsman’ (pictured here in 1976) who hosted the Today show with Barbara Walters in the 1970s, died April 17, 2022, in Fairfax County, Virginia. He was 82

Pictured: (l-r) Co-anchor Barbara Walters and co-anchor Jim Hartz in the 1970s 

Hartz died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to his wife, Alexandra Dickson Hartz, as reported by Deadline on Sunday

When Walters left in 1976 to become ABC’s evening news co-anchor, Jane Pauley was brought on board. Her low-key style matched Hartz’ similar style so a decision was made to bring in Tom Brokaw for balance, Deadline reported. 

Hartz moved on to anchoring  at WRC, the NBC affiliate in Washington and later working at PBS, co-hosting ‘Over Easy,’ a celebrity talk show, with actress Mary Martin, and ‘Innovation,’ a weekly science show.

Hartz covered several space missions throughout his career, recalling the first time he saw a Saturn rocket lifting off at Cape Kennedy on an Apollo mission, he said, ‘I was just not prepared for that 36-story building walking right off the platform into the air.’ 

At a 20th-anniversary gala for the Apollo 11 project in Houston, he described the 1969 moon landing in lofty terms, the New York Times reported, calling it ‘the grandest thing we could think to do’ at the time and lauding ‘what man can do with a singleness of mind and a clearly defined goal.’

Hartz was born on February 3, 1940, in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Rev. Marvin Dillard Hartz, an Assembly of God minister, and Helen Elvira (Potter) Hartz. He was their fifth child. 

While still in college, Hartz married Norma Tandy and they had three children. A year after their 1979 divorce, he married Alexandra Dickson from Alexandria, Va. 

He’s survived by his wife, Alexandra Dickson, two daughters, Jana Hartz Maher and Nancy Hartz Cole, six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. A son, John Mitchell Hartz, died in 2015. 

Jim Hartz attends the ‘TODAY’ Show 60th anniversary celebration at  The Edison Ballroom on January 12, 2012 in New York City

Barbara Walters and Jim Hartz reunite during the ‘Today’ show’s 60th anniversary