Jim O'Brien (reporter)

James Franklin Oldham, better known as Jim O'Brien (November 20, 1939 – September 25, 1983), was an American newscaster. He was a member of the WPVI-TV Channel 6 Action News team, which became the highest-rated television news team in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley region during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Employed initially as the sports anchor and then the weather anchor at WPVI, he was subsequently chosen to co-anchor the 12:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. newscasts, and also hosted the local edition of Dialing for Dollars and the weekend magazine show Primetime.

Following his death during a skydiving accident in 1983, O'Brien was described by Clark DeLeon of The Philadelphia Inquirer as follows:

"In 10 years on local television, Jim O'Brien redefined the word 'personality.' He was without a doubt the most-liked man in Philadelphia. There's no on else even in the running. He took the intimate medium of television and made it even more intimate, while remaining a professional the entire time."

Formative years and family

Born as James Franklin Oldham in Galveston, Texas on November 20, 1939, James F. Oldham was a son of William Howell Oldham (1905-1975) and Frances Catherine (Sodich) Oldham (1914-2013). Raised on a small farm in Fairbanks, a formerly unincorporated community in Harris County, Texas that is now a neighborhood in Houston, he was president of his sophomore class at Cypress-Fairbanks High School, and was named "most handsome," "most popular," and "Mr. Sportsmanship" during his junior and senior years at that school. He was also the school's star running back on its football team, and was named to the All-District team.

Married to Sandra Jo Hauck in a small ceremony in Texas, he and his wife, Sandra, had two daughters: actress Peri Gilpin (born Peri Kay Oldham), who played the character Roz Doyle on the television program Frasier, and Patti Jo Wynne (née Oldham), who married Shannon Wynne. According to his daughter, Peri, her father wished to become a pastor and was a theologian who studied at Baylor University. Oldham subsequently adopted the name "Jim O'Brien" during his transition to a career in the radio and television broadcast industry, but was still known to family and longtime friends as "James Oldham."

Broadcast career

After short stints at radio stations KHJ in Los Angeles and WOR-FM in New York City, O'Brien came to Philadelphia in 1970 to become a disc jockey at radio station WFIL.

Sometime in 1971 or 1972, he joined the WPVI-TV Channel 6 Action News team as a sports anchor. He soon became the weatherman, and eventually co-anchored the 12:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. newscasts, the local edition of Dialing for Dollars, and the weekend magazine show Primetime.

As WPVI's ratings increased, O'Brien became a beloved figure who was praised for his humor and the unique, fun-loving personality that he brought to his newscasts and weather reporting.

Death and funeral

O'Brien had two favorite hobbies: motorcycle riding and skydiving. The latter hobby led to his death in a skydiving accident on September 25, 1983, at the United Parachute Club near Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania. He and another skydiver jumping with him deployed their main parachutes. During their descent, under their open parachutes, they collided and their parachutes became entangled. After they tried unsuccessfully to detach themselves from each other, O'Brien, an experienced skydiver, performed a standard skydiving emergency procedure called a "cutaway". He jettisoned his main parachute and deployed his reserve parachute; however, by the time he performed the maneuver, he was already at such a low altitude that he struck the ground before his reserve canopy was able to inflate. The other jumper managed to use the entangled main parachutes to land safely.

Following his death, O'Brien was remembered by friends and colleagues at a memorial service in the Philadelphia area. His remains were returned to Harris County, Texas, where a funeral service was held at the Memorial Oaks Cemetery in Houston and officiated by the Rev. A.M. Stone, the pastor of Fairbanks Baptist Church, which was O'Brien's hometown church. O'Brien's mother and sister, Nancy (Oldham) Wood, as well as his daughters Peri and Patti Jo, and former wives, Sandra Gilpin and Sue Brooks, were among those present at the graveside service.

Legacy

O'Brien was posthumously inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame in 1997.