Frank Gifford, who was a halfback and flanker with the NFL’s New York Giants and eventually a play-by-play announcer for ABC’s Monday Night Football broadcasting career, has died at 84.
Gifford died Sunday at his Connecticut home of natural causes. He is survived by his third wife, former Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee host Kathie Lee Gifford, currently a co-host on the fourth hour of NBC’s Today show.
The Gifford family released a statement:
“It is with the deepest sadness that we announce the sudden passing of our beloved husband, father and friend, Frank Gifford. We rejoice in the extraordinary life he was privileged to live, and we feel grateful and blessed to have been loved by such an amazing human being. We ask that our privacy be respected at this difficult time and we thank you for your prayers.”
A USC college star at USC who eventually became a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Gifford’s stint with on ABC’s Monday Night Football lasted from 1971 until 1998.
Frank and Kathie Lee met on the set of ABC’s Good Morning America and were married in October 1986. The marriage survived a 1997 tabloid scandal, where a gossip rag paid a former flight attendant to seduce Gifford and then published stories and photos about the affair.
Along with his wife, Gifford’s survivors include three children with his first wife, Maxine Ewart, Jeffrey, Kyle and Victoria, and two with Kathie Lee, Cody and Cassidy.
Frank had a pretty full life. You can read more about it at The Hollywood Reporter
