New York News Anchor Dies at 63: Michele Marsh’s Legacy
Photo credit: 10ThousandCouple
Prior to the 1970s, the American television news industry was dominated by all-male newscasters. That began to change as female broadcasters were promoted into anchor positions and welcomed by audiences throughout the 1970s. Women such as Pat Harper, Barbara Walters, and Judy Licht began to make themselves known, incentivizing New York news networks to hire or promote women in the field.
Michele Marie Marsh was one of those women. She became an anchorwoman for WCBS-TV in August of 1979 for a late-night news broadcast. By 1980, all five of the New York broadcasting stations with a late-night news program featured a woman in an anchor role. These women included Carol Jenkins of WNBC, Pia Lindström of WNBC-TV, Carol Martin of WCBS-TV, and Melba Tolliver of WABC-TV.
Michele Marsh passed away on Tuesday, October 18th 2017 due to complications following a long and courageous battle with breast cancer. She will be remembered for the warmth and personality that she brought into the competitive and often gritty American news broadcasting industry. She lived to the age of 63 and died surrounded by loved ones at her home in South Kent, Connecticut.
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Marsh was born on March 9, 1954 in a Detroit suburb. She attended and graduated from Northwest University, where she majored in radio and television production. Marsh was six years old when Nixon and Kennedy debated one another in the first ever television broadcast of the presidential debates. This marked a time in history when political influence and the American audience was shifting to television over radio.
By the time Marsh had graduated from Northwest University and was ready to launch her career, she was 22 years old. She launched her career at WABI-TV in Bangor, Maine as a reporter and anchor. WABI-TV is an affiliate of CBS, and Marsh gained a reputation for reporting news that she herself gathered. Furthermore, Marsh became known for working the teleprompter with her toes, while still maintaining a high quality of work ethic. At the time, she was one of only three women reporting for television broadcast in the state of Maine.
In 1978, Marsh moved to San Antonio, Texas taking on new work for KSAT-TV, an affiliate of ABC. She was there no longer than six months, as an even greater opportunity would come her way shortly after making the move. In her time in San Antonio, she had a brief gig as parade marshal for the Western Days Celebration, a three-day carnival in Yorktown, Texas featuring games, a cook-off, and tournaments. This brief hiatus would mark the end of her time as a small reporter, and the beginning of a flourishing career in television news.
The Move to New York Anchorwoman
In August of 1979, Marsh moved from San Antonio to New York City, where she took on a job as a reporter for WCBS-TV. In a mere three months’ time, she was promoted into a co-anchor slot for the 11 o’clock report of Channel 2 News, co-anchoring with Rolland Smith. At the time that she was promoted into the anchor slot, she was 25 years old, the youngest of all other female anchors in New York City.
Marsh enjoyed her position at anchor, and began to gain a reputation for her sultry voice and personable attitude off-set. She was sometimes referred to as “the baby of the newsroom,” but carried herself with a cool and confident poise. Her voice and appearance attracted the attention of many male admirers, even young children whom she would receive letters from. As she grew in popularity, she was assigned guards who worked to fend off her devotees. The work and hours were not easy; she claimed that her hair began to turn gray within five months of working in New York City, while she was yet 25-years-old.
A brief setback occurred two years after beginning work at the WCBS. In January of 1981, CBS made the unpopular decision to demote Marsh from her anchor position in favor of a rehire—Dave Marash. New York magazine reported that Marsh left the studio in shock, and returned for her regular show time with red and puffy eyes. Her distress was so tangible that the station received letters from some of her loyal audience, wondering if something was amiss.
She regained her status as an anchorwoman approximately one year later, where she would stay on as a regular anchor of the 11 o’clock report until 1993. During her time with CBS, she worked alongside other tenured anchors such as Mike Schneider, Jim Jensen, and John Johnson. She began to report the early evening news later on in her career, opting into a better schedule despite her longtime rapport on late night television.
In June of 1995, Marsh returned to late night television with John Johnson. The station’s ratings seemed high, but the changes brought a decline in viewership that left the station scrambling to boost ratings. Unfortunately, the attempts failed. Marsh was one of a number of television personalities that was abruptly released from the station, along with her co-anchor John Johnson. Although a shock, the setback was minor, as both she and Johnson were quickly hired to WNBC-TV, where they anchored a midday newscast together.
It appeared that Marsh would be successful at the new station, especially when she began co-anchoring the 6 o’clock evening news with Chuck Scarborough. However, Marsh’s career in television came to an end in August of 2003, when NBC attempted to demote and reposition her. She refused alternative positions within the station and the clash became news itself, as New York Daily News ran a front-page story covering Marsh’s case.
Neither she nor the station budged. After a career spanning more than two decades and five Emmy awards, Marsh left NBC and the news industry altogether, ending her storied career in television.
Later Life and Battle with Breast Cancer
Outside of work, Marsh had married and divorced Nathaniel Price Paschall, with whom she had a son, John Paschall. She was later remarried to Paul H. Nargeolet, who survives her in addition to her son. Outside of work, Marsh was a warm and amiable personality, loved by many who met and spoke with her. Her son stated: “I never believed she was about the fame, [but] who she was a person when the cameras were off.”
Marsh and her son had a very close relationship. John Paschall went on to win his own Emmy Award reporting sports news for NBC, and he sent it to his mother as a gift. At the time, she was already well into her battle with cancer, but she still celebrated her son and spread the news to her many friends. Paschall remembers her fondly, saying that Marsh was “even a better mother than she was a broadcaster.”
Marsh was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010, and battled the disease for seven years before passing away of complications this past October. She is survived by her husband, Paul H. Nargeolet, as well as her son, John Paschall. She passed away surrounded by loved ones at her home in South Kent, Connecticut, at the age of 63.
References
https://books.google.com/books?id=HOYCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10&lpg=PA10#v=onepage&q&f=false
