Harlem-born broadcaster Jim Boyd, who started his career in New York City before becoming a longtime Boston news anchor, has died at 84.
Boyd died Tuesday following health issues, according to the Boston Globe. His official cause of death has not been disclosed.
“We have some really sad news to share this evening. Former NewsCenter 5 anchor and a true gentleman, Jim Boyd has died,” WCVB anchor Maria Stephanos announced Tuesday, referring to Boyd’s nearly four decades at the Boston ABC affiliate.
Stephanos called Boyd “a beautiful man, a beautiful family” and remembered the “countless viewers who counted on Jim Boyd for decades, and that included me.”
Born in Harlem in 1942, Boyd attended New York City public schools and graduated from George Washington High School in 1958.
He went on to study at Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus and Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, but his college years got off to a rocky start.
“I was academically dismissed from Long Island University in 1961,” Boyd 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.”
Boyd found a job in the mailroom at National Educational Television in New York City that year, which proved to be the start of a broadcasting career he had never expected.
“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 said.
Boyd worked his way up to producer before moving to Boston in 1972 to join WCVB as a reporter.
He eventually became an anchor for the station’s weekend and midday newscasts, remaining there until his retirement in 2008.
Boyd earned a Golden Circle award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ New England chapter in 2011 and entered the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame the following year.
His life after broadcasting brought another milestone: At 71, he finally earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology from Tufts University in 2013.
After retiring from news, Boyd embarked on an acting career, landing small roles in films including “American Hustle,” “Patriots Day” and “Manchester by the Sea.”
Off camera, Boyd coached sports and worked with youth organizations.
His wife, Linda Polach, said that he treated everyone he met the same, regardless of status.
“He met presidents and lawn workers, and speakers of the house and garbage collectors. He was the same with everybody. He respected everyone as an equal,” she told the Boston Globe.
Boyd is survived by Polach and their three daughters.
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