Urbane Anchorman Was the Voice of ABC News

Peter Jennings, a Canadian-born high school dropout who became the face of ABC News and a household name in the United States, died of lung cancer Sunday night at his home in New York. He was 67.

ABC News announced his death late Sunday and released a statement from his wife, Kayce Freed; his 25-year-old daughter, Elizabeth; and his 23-year-old son, Christopher.

“Peter died with his family around him, without pain and in peace,” the statement read. “He knew he’d lived a good life.”

His death was met with grief at ABC, where he functioned as both the public face and behind-the-scenes manager of “World News Tonight.”

ABC News President David Westin called the 41-year ABC veteran -- known for his urbane demeanor and driven perfectionism -- “our colleague, our friend, and our leader,” adding, “None of us will be the same without him.”

“He was a warm and loving and surprisingly sentimental man,” said Ted Koppel, a longtime friend and fellow anchor.

“No one could ad lib like Peter,” said ABC colleague Barbara Walters. “Sometimes he drove me crazy because he knew so many details. He just died much too young.”

Westin said that Jennings had faced his fight against lung cancer “with realism, courage, and a firm hope that he would be one of the fortunate ones.”

“In the end, he was not,” he said.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in U.S. men and women, accounting for 163,510 deaths this year. Most cases of lung cancer are directly attributable to smoking. A lung cancer diagnosis presents a very poor prognosis, with a one-year survival rate of only 42% and a five-year rate of 15%.

Jennings’ death comes as a bitter bookend to a decades-long era in television news dominated by three well-known figures: the longtime ABC newsman, CBS’ Dan Rather and NBC’s Tom Brokaw. Brokaw retired in December and Rather stepped down from the evening news in March.

A longtime smoker, Jennings first announced his diagnosis April 5, when he said he would begin chemotherapy treatment.

In a poignant taped message that aired on “World News Tonight,” Jennings -- his voice already hoarse and raw -- said he had quit smoking 20 years ago but was “weak” and took it up again after the Sept. 11 attacks. He pledged to continue to anchor “World News Tonight” on “good days.”

That was his last time on the air. In his absence, “Good Morning America” co-host Charles Gibson and “20/20” co-anchor Elizabeth Vargas, among others, have filled in for him.

Although ABC executives maintained publicly that they were expecting Jennings back in the anchor chair, they also acknowledged the severity of his illness.

The anchor himself noted the difficulty of his battle.

In a message on the ABC News website thanking viewers for their support in late April, Jennings wrote: “Yesterday I decided to go to the office; I live only a few blocks away. I got as far as the bedroom door. Chemo strikes. Do I detect a knowing but sympathetic smile on many of your faces? You knew this was coming.”

He added: “I assume there are a few others out there who, like me, are going with the flow until the day gets better.”

During his four decades at ABC -- especially his last 22 as anchor -- Jennings developed a reputation for rigorous standards and a devotion to substantive stories, especially international affairs.

As managing editor of “World News Tonight,” he combed over every script that went on the broadcast.

“Peter was a real guardian at the gate,” said Judy Muller, a contributing ABC correspondent and an assistant professor at USC. “He was so committed to the integrity of news.”

Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings was born on July 29, 1938, in Toronto. He spent most of his childhood in Ottawa.

He gained his passion for broadcast news from his father, Charles Jennings, who was the first person to anchor a nightly national news program in Canada and became head of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.’s news division.

Jennings once referred him as his “only hero.”

At age 9, Jennings already was the host of a weekly children’s show called “Peter’s People” on CBC radio, reading letters from children on the air. But he was unenthusiastic about school and dropped out of the 10th grade.

He quickly made his way in broadcasting, working for a small radio station in Brockville, Ontario, and then landing a job as the host of a CBC public affairs show in Montreal.

At age 24, he already was co-anchoring Canada’s first private network newscast and was spotted by an ABC correspondent covering a NATO meeting. ABC recruited the young anchor in 1964.

Impressed with his good looks and poise, the network thrust him briefly into the anchor chair, but the 26-year-old proved to be too green for the post.

In 1967, he began his career as a foreign correspondent, opening the network’s bureau in Beirut. He rapidly made his mark in covering hot spots around the world.

He was in Munich in 1972 when Palestinian terrorists took Israeli athletes hostage at the Olympics. He covered the battle over apartheid in South Africa and was in Germany to report on the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Jennings became ABC’s chief foreign correspondent and was based in London when the network asked him to return to the anchor desk as part of a three-man team, with Frank Reynolds based in Washington, D.C., and Max Robinson in Chicago.

When Reynolds died of cancer in 1983, Jennings took over as the only anchor. He helped power ABC to the top of the ratings for a decade, winning over viewers with his witty, sophisticated manner.

Jennings’ extensive overseas experience brought a worldly tone to the ABC broadcast, and he devoted substantial time to covering news from around the globe, both during “World News Tonight” and prime-time specials devoted to the conflict between India and Pakistan, the crisis in Bosnia and the Central and South American drug trade. He was most recently in Iraq in January to report on the elections there.

The ABC anchor also won praise for the tone that he set in the coverage of the Sept. 11 attacks.

In the first week, he anchored 60 hours and maintained his trademark calm demeanor, even as he offered brief glimpses of how the attacks had shaken him. At one point, after he received a message that his children were safe, he noted that everyone should make sure they contacted their children, his voice catching slightly.

“He was a person with an enormous amount of experience and self-confidence -- and a presence,” said Richard Wald, a former ABC News executive. “That’s all you can say about him. He had it, he always did.”

In addition to his wife and children, Jennings is survived by a sister, Sarah Jennings.

There was no immediate word on services.