Rumors of Pat McCormick's Death Are Greatly Exaggerated

Did you grow up watching Pat McCormick on Channel 2 in the Bay Area? Charley and Humphrey! Dialing for Dollars!

You may have been distressed when the San Francisco Chronicle announced earlier this week that McCormick had passed away.

Not so fast, responded Ch. 2. The TV station reports that it reached out to McCormick at his Oregon home Tuesday, and the former TV personality was alive and well.

So how could the Chronicle have reported otherwise? Reporter Peter Hartlaub writes that the information came from McCormick’s son, “The Los Angeles resident said he had received a note from his father in September explaining he was in late stage cancer, and a pair of notes from McCormick’s wife explaining that the anchor had died on October 29. (The younger McCormick provided those handwritten notes to The Chronicle, asking that they not be shared because they contained sensitive family information.)”

The retired TV personality told Ch. 2, “This is a personal situation and my family wants privacy at this time. Thank you for your concern. Charley and Humphrey send their love to everybody.”

If you didn’t grow up here, Charley and Humphrey were puppets of a horse and a bulldog. The puppets taught children lessons with laughter, such as don’t interrupt and don’t borrow something without first asking permission. In a 2008 interview with Hartlaub, McCormick said that Charley and Humphrey were the highlight of his career. Full story here.

--Image via KTVU