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Roger Olin Grimsby (September 23, 1928 - June 23, 1995) was an American television journalist and news anchor, best known as one of the pioneering figures of local television broadcast news in New York City.1 He anchored WABC-TV's "Eyewitness News" for eighteen years and won six Emmy Awards.1 In 1984 he appeared as himself in Ghostbusters, delivering a news report on the Ghostbusters' public rise during the film's montage sequence.2
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Roger Grimsby was born on September 23, 1928, in Butte, Montana. Orphaned early in life, he was raised in Duluth, Minnesota, by a Lutheran minister. He graduated from Denfeld High School in 1946 and went on to attend St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. He later studied history at Columbia University in New York.1
Grimsby served in the U.S. Army, with postings in Germany and later during the Korean War. It was during this service that exposure to Armed Forces Radio Service broadcasts first sparked his interest in news journalism.1
Grimsby began his broadcast career in 1954 as an announcer at WEBC radio in Duluth, Minnesota. He moved into television and worked at KMOX-TV (now KMOV) in St. Louis from 1959 to 1961, then joined KGO-TV in San Francisco, where he served as anchor and news director from 1961 to 1968.1
Grimsby's most consequential posting came when he joined WABC-TV in New York City on June 3, 1968, anchoring the 11 p.m. newscast, originally branded "Roger Grimsby and the Noisemakers." Within two days of his arrival, he was covering the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. By April 1969, he also anchored the 6 p.m. broadcast.1
His initial co-anchor was journalist Tom Dunn. In September 1970, Bill Beutel replaced Dunn and the two co-anchored together until 1986, forming one of New York's most recognized news teams.1
Grimsby became known for his deadpan delivery and two distinctive phrases: his opening, "Good evening, I'm Roger Grimsby, here now the news," and his sign-off, "Hoping your news is good news, I'm Roger Grimsby." He won six Emmy Awards during his career. He was let go from WABC in April 1986.1
After WABC, Grimsby anchored at WNBC-TV in New York from 1987 to 1989, then joined KUSI in San Diego from 1990 to 1991.1 His final on-screen credit was the 1991 film Nothing but Trouble.3
Beyond the anchor desk, Grimsby appeared as himself or in news-anchor roles in several films and television productions across his career, including Woody Allen's Bananas (1971), The Exterminator (1980), Turk 182 (1985), Power (1986), and a guest role on The Equalizer (1988).3
Grimsby appeared as himself in Ghostbusters (1984) in the news-montage sequence of Chapter 14: Welcome Aboard. The sequence depicts the city's media response following the Ghostbusters' public debut at the Sedgewick Hotel. Grimsby's report was the first segment shown in the montage. He told viewers that the entire eastern seaboard was alive with talk of incidents of paranormal activity, and that alleged ghost sightings and related supernatural occurrences had been reported across the entire tri-state area. Dana Barrett was shown watching his broadcast.2
At the time of filming, Grimsby was still actively anchoring WABC-TV's "Eyewitness News."1 According to the Spook Central filming locations list, his news-flash scene was possibly filmed at the WABC-TV studios at 7 Lincoln Square on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, though this location is listed as unverified.4
In the script drafts of August 5 and September 30, 1983, Grimsby's report was preceded by Ronald Gwynne of United Press International in New York.5 Grimsby himself first appears in the October 7, 1983 final draft.6 In that version he introduces Roy Brady, a roving reporter on Broadway; in earlier drafts, Bryant Gumbel had filled the role of introducing that reporter, but Gumbel's appearance was dropped as of the October draft.5 In the novelization of the film, the same report is attributed to "Roger Grimsby, with the NBC News," a minor discrepancy with his actual network affiliation.7
Grimsby was married twice. His first marriage was to Dorthi Frost. In 1989 he married Maria Grimsby, who survived him.1
Roger Grimsby died on June 23, 1995, at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. He was 66 years old. The cause of death was complications from advanced lung cancer.8 He is buried in New York. (Note: the date June 25 in some earlier sources is incorrect; Wikipedia and contemporaneous records give June 23.)1
Some content on this page was researched using the Ghostbusters Wiki on Fandom.
"Roger Grimsby," Wikipedia, accessed 2026-06-13, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Grimsby. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12
Ghostbusters (1984), directed by Ivan Reitman. Columbia Pictures. Chapter 14: Welcome Aboard. ↩ ↩2
"Roger Grimsby," IMDb, accessed 2026-06-13, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0342339/. ↩ ↩2
Spook Central, "Ghostbusters Transcript & Filming Locations List" (July 3, 2020), https://www.spookcentral.us/2020/07/03/ghostbusters-transcript-filming-locations-list. The entry for Roger Grimsby's news studio at WABC-TV at 7 Lincoln Square on the Upper West Side appears under the heading "Round Up of Unverified or Unknown Filming Locations." ↩
Ghostbusters script drafts, August 5, 1983 ("First Draft") and September 30, 1983 ("Third Draft"), by Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd. Via Spook Central, https://www.spookcentral.us/sclib/ghostbusters-scripts. Both drafts include Ronald Gwynne of United Press International and Bryant Gumbel introducing roving reporter Roy Brady; Roger Grimsby does not appear in either draft. ↩ ↩2
Ghostbusters Final Shooting Script (October 7, 1983), by Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd. Via Spook Central, https://www.spookcentral.us/sclib/ghostbusters-scripts. Scene 94: "FULL SCREEN VIDEO OF ROGER GRIMSBY." Grimsby introduces Roy Brady; Gwynne and Gumbel do not appear. ↩
Milne, Larry (1984). Ghostbusters. Coronet Books, London. ISBN 0340372516. The Milne novelization attributes Grimsby's broadcast opening as: "Good morning, this is Roger Grimsby, with the NBC News." ↩
Variety, "Roger Grimsby" (1995), https://variety.com/1995/scene/people-news/roger-grimsby-99129392/. ↩
