Longtime Philadelphia sports anchor Joe Pellegrino dies at 89

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Friends, colleagues and family members are remembering the life of Joe Pellegrino, a popular Philadelphia sports anchor in the 1970s and ’80s, who died on April 12. He was 89.

“When people remember Joe Pellegrino, they remember the glory days of the early local news,” said KYW Newsradio’s Larry Kane, who was a 6ABC anchor in the early ’70s when Pellegrino handled sports.

Kane said Pellegrino’s approach helped the station gain success in the ratings.

“In the early days of Channel 6 Action News, 1970, ’71 and ’72, he was a real star,” he said. “He really loved sports. And he, along with Jim O’Brien, helped me and the team make the station No. 1 in a very short amount of time.”

Pellegrino left the station to work in Detroit but was reunited with Kane at WCAU-TV, Channel 10, for six years in the ’80s. Pellegrino did talk radio and 76ers broadcasts after that. For years, he sang the national anthem to open the annual Philadelphia Sports Writers Association banquet, and he remained active in his community of Marlton, New Jersey.

“He did all of this community service work unheralded and without attention,” Kane added.

Pellegrino’s daughters told Kane their father died on April 12 at the age of 89.