Legendary Boston TV anchor Tom Ellis dies at 86

BOSTON — Tom Ellis, a legendary television broadcaster who was once known as "the face of Boston TV news," has died at the age of 86.

Ellis, a Sandwich resident who was inducted in the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2010, earned that distinction after becoming a well-known Boston TV newsman over four decades. He died at his home Monday on Cape Cod.

"He is the only person in Massachusetts broadcast history to have anchored newscasts that were number one on each of the city’s primary network television affiliates," the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame states on its website.

Boston 25 news anchor Mark Ockerbloom, who previously worked with Ellis, recalled the legendary broadcaster as someone who always thanked his co-workers after broadcasts, and who also helped younger people who were working in the industry.

"He was a legend in Boston television news," Ockerbloom said Monday. "I grew up watching him and was fortunate enough to eventually work with Tom. He was such a presence. In addition to being a great news anchor, he was a great person too. For example, after the newscast aired, he’d walk around the newsroom and tell one and all, 'Great job, everybody!'"

"He enjoyed workng with young journalists, and the feeling was mutual, they enjoyed working for him," said Ockerbloom, who worked with Ellis at New England Cable News.

Ellis, a native of Texas, began his news career in radio, working in the Texas markets of Fort Worth and Austin. He began his TV news career in 1958 at KONO in San Antonio. Five years later, he was among the local Texas reporters dispatched to Dallas where he landed a brief interview with President John F. Kennedy on the day before he was assassinated, according to Ellis' obituary.

In 1968, Ellis moved to Boston, where his early ratings set all-time records, according to the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Six months after joining WBZ-TV in 1968, his solo newscasts captured more than half of the television audience at both 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. He anchored solo at WBZ until 1973, and then co-anchored with Tony Pepper.

He then worked at WCVB-TV, where he also garnered top-of-the-market ratings for an extended period. From 1978-1982, he co-anchored with Chet Curtis and Natalie Jacobson, and from 1982-1987, he worked at WNEV-TV, where he co-anchored with Robin Young and later Diane Willis.

His longest single tenure as anchor was at New England Cable News, where he anchored broadcasts from 1994 to 2009.

Also during his career, Ellis appeared in three feature films: Marathon Man in 1976 and 29th Street in 1991, two films where he played a television newscaster, and True Color in 1991, where he played an FBI agent.

"All told, a remarkable career," the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame says in Ellis' bio on its website.

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