Irv Kupcinet

Irving Kupcinet (July 31, 1912 – November 10, 2003) was an American newspaper columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, television talk-show host, and radio personality based in Chicago, Illinois. He was popularly known by the nickname "Kup".

His daily "Kup's Column" was launched in 1943 and remained a fixture in the Sun-Times for the next six decades.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life

Kupcinet was youngest of four children born to Russian Jewish immigrants in the North Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago. While attending Harrison Technical High School,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> he became editor of the school newspaper and the senior class president. He eventually won a football scholarship to Northwestern University, but a scuffle with another student led to his transferring to the University of North Dakota.

Career

Upon graduating from college, Kupcinet was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles football team in 1935.<ref name=kupcinet>Template:Cite news</ref> His football career was cut short due to a shoulder injury, which led him to take a job as a sports writer for the Chicago Daily Times in 1935.<ref>P.J. Huffstutter, "Irv Kupcinet, 91; 'King of Gossip' Wrote Longtime Column for Chicago Sun-Times," Los Angeles Times, Nov.11, 2003 (retrieved Feb.8, 2025)</ref><ref name=chicago>Template:Cite news Template:Dead link</ref>

While writing his sports column, Kupcinet also wrote a short "People" section which became officially known as "Kup's Column."<ref name=lostworld /> "Kup's Column" chronicled the nightlife of Chicago, along with celebrity and political gossip. After the Chicago Sun and the Chicago Daily Times combined in 1948 to form the Chicago Sun-Times, "Kup's Column" would eventually be distributed to more than 100 newspapers around the world.<ref name=irv>Irv Kupcinet bio</ref>

In 1952, Kupcinet became a pioneer in the television talk show genre when he landed his own talk show. In 1957, he was one of the set of hosts who replaced Steve Allen on The Tonight Show, before Jack Paar was brought in to change the program's format.<ref name=irv /> Kupcinet's own series ran from 1959 until 1986 and was, at one point, syndicated to over 70 stations throughout the United States.<ref name=chicago /> The series garnered 15 Emmy Awards along with a Peabody Award.<ref name=kupcinet />

In addition to writing his newspaper column and talk-show hosting duties, from 1953 to 1977 Kupcinet provided commentary for radio broadcasts of Chicago Bears football games with Jack Brickhouse and was affectionately mocked for the signature phrase, "Dat's right, Jack".

Film cameos

Kupcinet made cameo appearances in two films directed by Otto Preminger – 1959's Anatomy of a Murder and the 1962 drama Advise and Consent.<ref name=irv />

Awards and honors

In 1982, Kupcinet was elected to Chicago's Journalism Hall of Fame.<ref name=kupcinet />

A statue of Kupcinet was erected in 2006, three years after his death, along Wacker Drive in Chicago, across the Chicago River from the site of the old Chicago Sun-Times building.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A plaque on the base of the statue includes a quote by Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.

Published works

In 1988, Kupcinet published his autobiography, Kup: A Man, an Era, a City.

Personal life

Kupcinet met Esther "Essee" Solomon while she was a Northwestern student, and married her in 1939. The couple had two children; a daughter, Karyn in 1941, and a son, Jerry in 1944.<ref name=lostworld />

The Kupcinets' daughter, Karyn, moved to Hollywood in the early 1960s to pursue an acting career. On November 30, 1963, her nude body was found in her West Hollywood apartment. Her mysterious death, ruled to be a homicide by strangulation because her hyoid bone had been broken,<ref name=lostworld>Template:Cite magazine</ref> was never solved.<ref name=kupcinet /> The Kupcinets established a theater named in her honor at Shimer College, then located in Mount Carroll, Illinois.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Before the murder, Irv Kupcinet had been aware of his daughter's close relationship with actor Andrew Prine, and the three of them had been photographed together at a public event in Los Angeles. Irv Kupcinet conferred with Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department investigators and hired a private investigator, and he soon came to believe Prine had nothing to do with the murder.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Sheriff's Department investigators never made an arrest.

Irv Kupcinet's wife Essee died in 2001; they were married for 62 years.<ref name=kupcinet />

Death

Graves of Karyn, Essee, Irv, and Jerry Kupcinet at Memorial Park Cemetery

On November 10, 2003, Kupcinet died from respiratory complications from pneumonia at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, in Chicago. He was 91 years old.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was buried at Memorial Park Cemetery in Skokie.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1959	Anatomy of a Murder	Distinguished Gentleman	Uncredited
1962	Advise & Consent	Journalist

See also

• Statue of Irv Kupcinet (2006), Chicago

External links

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