Veteran news anchor and broadcaster Jim Boyd, who became a familiar face to generations of Boston viewers, has passed away.
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The 84-year-old's cause of death wasn't revealed, with the Boston Globe reporting that he died on Oct. 27 following health issues.
Meanwhile, Boston ABC affiliate WCVB, where Boyd spent nearly 40 years as a news anchor, confirmed his death in its Tuesday broadcast.
"We have some really sad news to share this evening. Former NewsCenter 5 anchor and a true gentleman, Jim Boyd, has died," current anchor Maria Stephanos told viewers.
Stephanos went on to call Boyd "a beautiful man, a beautiful family." She added that "countless viewers counted on Jim Boyd for decades, and that included me."
The Harlem native graduated from George Washington High School. He went on to Long Island University's Brooklyn campus and Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey. However, the future broadcaster's life in academia kicked off on a sour note.
"I was academically dismissed from Long Island University in 1961," the anchor told WCVB in 2014. "And the one thing that I didn't know is that it was too much of a burden and too much of a sacrifice of my parents for me to just blow it entirely."
A Mailroom Job Set Jim Boyd on a Path to Broadcasting
The next year, Boyd landed a gig in the mailroom at National Educational Television in New York City. The humble job planted the seeds for his broadcasting career.
"The more I learned about the organization, the more I learned about the industry, the more I learned about the writing part and the news part, the more enthusiastic I got. So finally, I got enthusiastic about something," he recalled.
By 1972, Boyd had worked his way up to being a producer before landing a job at WCVB as a reporter. He was eventually promoted to news anchor, staying with the station until his 2008 retirement.
The veteran anchor received a Golden Circle Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' New England chapter in 2011. In 2012, he was also inducted into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
Boyd leaves behind his wife, Linda Polach, and their three daughters.
