Profile of Peter Jennings (1938-2005), ABC News Anchor & Journalist

Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings was a dedicated newsman, a 41-year employee of ABC News and lead ABC evening news anchor for 22 years.

With handsome looks and suave style, a thirst for knowledge, a flexible intellect and extensive experience in the Middle East, Jennings was widely regarded as a leading journalist of his time. He garnered numerous accolades, including 16 Emmy Awards.

Peter Jennings died of lung cancer on August 7, 2005. He announced his diagnosis on ABC World News Tonight on April 5, 2005. In a husky voice that night, he promised, "I will continue to do the broadcast." He never did, though.

During the week of September 11, 2001, he logged more than 60 on-air hours. TV Guide dubbed Jennings the "center of gravity" during that week. On July 1, 2004, he was one of 3 reporters present when Saddam Hussein made his first Iraqi courtroom appearance.

Discovered as a young Canadian newscaster, Peter Jennings made TV history in 1965 by becoming the youngest news anchor for the ABC Evening News. After 3 years of poor ratings, he was made a foreign correspondent. He was the ABC News Bureau Chief in Beirut for 7 years. He moved up in the ranks at ABC over the years, replacing Frank Reynolds as lead anchor in 1983, after Reynolds' death. His extensive knowledge of and roots in the Middle East were factors in his new success.

From 1978, when Jennings became part of the World News Tonight team, he was an energetic, respected newsman. Besides the news, he produced and anchored dozens of specials on topics as abortion, gun-control, funding for the arts, to his most controversial special, "The Search for Jesus," released in 2000. In political coverage, he ran town hall meetings, moderated debates, covered conventions and never missed an election night. In 1999, he anchored the 12-hour ABC series, "the Century."

Peter Jennings witnessed many milestone events of the late 20th century. He reported when the Berlin Wall went up in the '60s, and in the '90s when it came down. He covered the civil rights movement, and was there when the Voting Rights Act was signed in 1965. He was in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe to report the fall of communism. He was one of the first newsmen to go to Vietnam in the '60s, and he saw the South African struggle against apartheid.

- Peabody Award in 1974 for his documentary on Anwar al-Sadat

- National Headliner Award in 1971 for his reporting on the civil war in Bangladesh

- Harvard University's Goldsmith Career Award

- Radio and TV News Directors Paul White Award

- Two Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Journalism Awards

- 16 Emmy Awards

- Named "best anchor" in 1988, '89, '90 and '92 by Washington Journalism Review

- Two Edward R. Murrow Awards, including one in 2004

Birth - July 29, 1938 in Toronto, Canada. Father Charles was a respected broadcaster with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

Education - Attended 3 colleges, although he never graduated from either high school or college.

Family - Married 8 years to fourth wife Kayce Freed. Two children, Elizabeth, 25, and Christopher, 23.

Faith - Christian

At age nine, Peter hosted a weekly children's radio show called 'Peter's Program' for CBC. Canadian-born Jennings became a US citizen on May 30, 2003.

"When you begin a project like this, you know you're going to offend somebody. I don't mind offending people - journalists should not mind offending people if they're in search of the truth." Talking about his controversial special, "The Search for Jesus."

"I have never spent a day in my adult life where I didn't learn something."

"I'm not a slave to objectivity. I'm never quite sure what it means. And it means different things to different people."

"If you tailor your news viewing so that you only get one point of view, well of course you're going to think somebody else has got a different point of view, and it may be wrong."

"I think the fairest thing to say about myself is that I am sensitive to the value of faith and religion and spirituality in people’s lives because I’m a journalist. I try to tell young producers here that when they go to interview the survivors of a plane crash, and they ask the woman, 'How did you get through this?' and the woman answers, 'God got me through it,' they are never to then say, 'I understand that madam, but what really got you through it?' That’s the one thing I would say about myself. I’ve come to appreciate the value of that. I do not question people’s literalism, even though I don’t always share it. And as a reporter, I’ve come to realize that this is a terrific story, a terrific, wonderful story." BeliefNet interview, after release of "In Search of Jesus