Former Fox News anchor Uma Pemmaraju dies at 64; Megyn Kelly, more mourn her death
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Former Fox News Channel anchor Uma Pemmaraju has died, the cable news network announced Tuesday. She was 64.
"We are deeply saddened by the death of Uma Pemmaraju, who was one of FOX News Channel’s founding anchors and was on the air the day we launched," Fox CEO Suzanne Scott said in a statement published by the network. "Uma was an incredibly talented journalist as well as a warm and lovely person, best known for her kindness to everyone she worked with."
The cause of her death "was not immediately made public," according to Fox News.
Pemmaraju began working with Fox News in 1996, anchoring the network's early shows including "Fox News Now" and "Fox on Trends." Before her time at the cable news channel, she was an anchor for Boston's CBS affiliate station WBZ-TV during her Emmy-winning tenure there, beginning in 1992.
WBZ-TV anchor David Wade considered the news of her death a "sad passing for WBZ."
"Her family tells me she was a 'noble soul and pioneer' as an Indian Asian American news woman of prominence," he wrote on Twitter.
Oprah mourns the death of her father: 'He felt the love and reveled in it'
Another sad passing for WBZ.
Former Channel 4 anchor and reporter Uma Pemmaraju has passed away.
After leaving WBZ, she went on to be a national news anchor.
Her family tells me she was a “noble soul and pioneer” as an Indian Asian American news woman of prominence. #WBZ pic.twitter.com/FrW7o17p2A— David Wade (@davidwade) August 8, 2022
Pemmaraju spent two decades at Fox News, along with a stint at Bloomberg News covering business.
In a 1993 interview Pemmaraju told The Boston Globe that she considered her role in journalism as a way to serve others.
“I’m a conduit to help other people,” she said. “I don’t want to sound too sentimental. But that’s what I’m about. I want to use my celebrity to help people, to help bring about something that needs to be done.”
More: Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake, known for his Steve Jobs turtlenecks, dies at 84
Members of the news community mourned Pemmaraju's death on social media.
"Very sad to hear this news .. Uma’s office was just a few doors down from mine when I first started at Fox. She was kind and welcoming and always has a smile for everyone," Fox news correspondent Laura Ingle wrote.
Megyn Kelly wrote Wednesday: "So, so sorry to read this. Uma was a pro and always had a kind word for others - she was taken too soon. Sending love and prayers to her family."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Uma Pemmaraju dead at 64: Former Fox News anchor remembered
