Legendary WWL anchor Eric Paulsen dies after courageous cancer battle | wwltv.com

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NEW ORLEANS — Eric Paulsen, whose five decades on New Orleans television placed him on a list of the country’s longest-tenured broadcasters, with more than 40 years as the top-rated and enormously popular morning news anchor and reporter for WWL Louisiana, died Saturday morning.

Paulsen had been away from the anchor desk for more than a month, announcing on September 18 that he had been recently diagnosed with a “fairly aggressive” form of cancer. “I’m not a person who worries about a lot in life, and I've always been a fighter. This is a fight I don’t welcome, but I’m ready for this battle,” he said in a message to viewers.

His wife Bethany said that the support and online messages from thousands of viewers, friends and colleagues across the country boosted his spirits in the weeks since.

“The outpouring of love and support has truly been overwhelming,” she said. “Even for someone who was used to being in the spotlight, Eric was truly surprised and humbled by how many people reached out to support him,” she said.

In August, Paulsen earned praise from his colleagues in the local media when he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Press Club of New Orleans. Days later, he was honored by the New Orleans City Council.

“That sense of humor people can see and recognize, but what I also recognize (is)… just how much you truly do care for this city, not only in your job, but you as a person,” said City Council President Helena Moreno.

“I have been one of the luckiest people in the world,” Paulsen said at the time. “I have had so many wonderful experiences at Channel 4, I’ve met so many people. This is my hometown. I’ll never leave New Orleans.”

A fixture on local television since 1977, Paulsen was best known and beloved by viewers as an anchor who made his work look effortless, bringing humor and a playful, often mischievous spirit to his morning newscasts, interviews and feature stories that shined a spotlight on the city’s music, food and culture. Glib and quick on his feet, not to mention blessed with charm and boyish good looks, Paulsen was perfectly suited for the juggling act that is live morning television.

However, he was also respected for his hard news reporting, including during Hurricane Katrina and other storms and breaking stories, as well as in exclusive interviews with politicians, business leaders and newsmakers. For 18 years, from 2001 to 2019, he also anchored WWL’s top-rated noon newscast.

But it was mornings where Paulsen made his mark. Soon after joining WWL in 1977, he was named anchor of the station’s new morning newscast. He anchored solo, with Don Westbrook joining him as weathercaster. Later, he was paired with co-anchor Andre Trevigne. Often serious but sometimes silly, their frequently biting on-air banter masked the respect and affection the two had for each other, as they became the talk of morning TV and close friends. "There was a lot of fire between us," Paulsen recalled, “and the audience seemed to like all that friendly bickering."

Their newscast grew to earn top ratings, leading station general manager J. Michael Early to expand it to two hours and pre-empt CBS’ morning newscast in favor of the local juggernaut. In the 1990s, Paulsen was paired with fellow Channel 4 superstar Sally-Ann Roberts. "Sally-Ann is like a sister to me," he once said, “and we tease each other just like two siblings."

The viewers responded, keeping the pair’s Eyewitness Morning News at the top of the local ratings for more than two decades. Paulsen’s personal touch helped shape the program into a mix of news, topical interviews, features, food, music and fun that would earn some of the highest ratings in the country, routinely outperforming the national network morning shows.

More important than ratings, however, Paulsen’s time spent in the morning news studio in the 2000s would change his life. It’s where he met his wife Bethany, who worked as a studio camera operator. At this year’s Press Club awards ceremony, Paulsen said she was “the strongest woman I’ve ever met, so I married her.” The two were wed in 2009 and welcomed a son, Emmet, in 2016.

Born July 13, 1950, Paulsen, a native of St. Louis, toyed with the idea of becoming a veterinarian before graduating with a journalism degree from Southern Illinois University, where he worked for the campus radio and television stations. Soon after, he landed radio disc jockey jobs in Illinois and Iowa before switching to television news. His first TV job in Savannah, Georgia was followed by a stint in Madison, Wisconsin. He then applied for work in New Orleans where legendary WWL-TV news director Phil Johnson hired him for a weekend position.

After a few years as weekend news reporter, WWL picked Paulsen to co-host the station’s version of “PM Magazine,” the nightly program which showcased a mix of local and nationally-syndicated features. Paulsen and co-host Lea Sinclair traveled extensively for the program. Some of his favorite stories included a memorable series on the Orient Express, a hot air balloon ride over Burgundy, France, a flight on the Concorde supersonic jet and celebrity interviews, including with the rock band KISS.

“The best job I ever had,” Paulsen said. “I got to see the world. If I was interested in something, we did a story on it. That’s also when I got to meet Tennessee Williams.” Quotes and clips from Paulsen’s 1981 interview – the last one before Williams’ death in 1983 – made national headlines as the legendary playwright revealed something he had never said before — that he discovered his homosexuality on New Year’s Eve 1939 in New Orleans.

After “PM Magazine” left the air in 1984, Paulsen returned to anchoring the morning newscast. His love for New Orleans and its people was evident in the stories he told on-air and also the off-air friendships he cultivated with many of the city’s characters and icons from Irma Thomas, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint and Jazz Fest producer Quint Davis to Al Copeland, Chris Owens, Edwin Edwards and “Blue Dog” artist George Rodrigue. He profiled and reported on them and in many cases became friends.

Paulsen’s impact on the local music scene is legendary. A longtime music fan who was a regular at Tipitina’s and other clubs, he would often encourage his producers to book up-and-coming musicians on the Eyewitness Morning News. By doing so, he nurtured new talent, introducing Harry Connick Jr., Trombone Shorty, Amanda Shaw, Cowboy Mouth and other young musicians to the city before their careers took off.

There was one notoriously shy music legend that, like every other high-profile journalist in town, Paulsen had tried unsuccessfully over the years to interview: Fats Domino. Finally, in 2004, on Domino’s 76th birthday, a phone call to Domino’s daughter made it happen. A fan of Paulsen’s and WWL’s morning show, Domino was genuinely starstruck when the anchor and his photographer showed up on the stoop of his Ninth Ward home. Domino invited Paulsen to sit on his pink Cadillac couch, played the piano for him and gave him a rare on-camera interview.

Paulsen later played a memorable role in coaxing Domino on stage for what would become his final public performance, at Tipitina’s in 2007. In 2010, he would also orchestrate an historic reunion between Domino and longtime producer Dave Bartholomew, who had been estranged for many years. Scenes from the interview were played at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when the pair was honored.

Paulsen loved covering the city’s food scene almost as much as its music. He became close friends with many of New Orleans’ top chefs, frequenting their restaurants and inviting many onto the morning news. In recent years he also profiled some of them for a recurring morning series. He also emceed the annual Chefs’ Charity for Children fundraiser for St. Michael Special School for many years, appearing on stage with Emeril Lagasse, Leah Chase, Frank Brigtsen and other superstars. It was one of the thousands of charity events to which Paulsen donated his time over the years to support local schools and non-profit organizations.

While Paulsen reveled in what made the city special, he also frequently led the way on coverage of its challenges. He often held elected officials to task in live morning interviews, including during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 when he and Roberts anchored WWL-TV’s continuous coverage in the early hours as the storm made landfall. A few days after the monster storm’s devastation became apparent, Paulsen memorably took to a helicopter to provide some of the first aerial views of the impact to southeast Louisiana. He and other members of the WWL staff earned broadcasting’s highest honors for their coverage, including the George Foster Peabody Award.

Among his honors, Paulsen also earned a regional Emmy award for a series of stories on a trip by New Orleans musicians and culture-bearers to Cuba. Another story, about a trip to Japan by young jazz musicians sponsored by the Tipitina’s Foundation, was nominated for an Emmy. He earned other awards from the Press Club of New Orleans, Associated Press and Louisiana Association of Broadcasters.

Outside of work, Paulsen was a loving father and husband. He loved to travel with his wife and son, was an avid tennis and pickleball player and spent time creating a backyard sanctuary – gardening and caring for his menagerie of animals at home, including turtles and chickens. He was also a talented photographer whose work was featured in several books by his close friend and co-anchor Sally-Ann Roberts.

“I’ve had such a wonderful ride here in New Orleans,” Paulsen said in a 2021 online interview with Tipitina’s TV. “When I came here, I was young, 25 years old maybe, and my plan was to go to the network. But things changed, opportunities opened up here and I fell in love with the city and it’s just been a great ride.”

In addition to his wife Bethany and son, Emmet, Paulsen is survived by a son, Jon and a daughter, Lexei; a sister, Karen, and brother-in-law, Richard; and a brother, Kim.

Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

His family asks that memorial donations be made to Roots of Music, 1020 N. Prieur St., New Orleans, LA 70116 (rootsofmusic.org), or The Ella Project, 400 Esplanade Ave., New Orleans, LA 70116 (ellanola.org).