In Memoriam

Charles A. Bosworth III

Charles Bosworth III, 73, was a broadcaster, financial analyst, and civic activist

Obituary

New Orleans Times-Picayune

April 3, 2015

Charles Bosworth III, an award-winning broadcaster who found subsequent careers as a financial adviser and community activist, died Thursday (April 2) at his New Orleans home. He was 73.

The cause of death has not been determined, but he was being treated for cancer and heart problems, said his wife, Gretchen Bosworth.

Mr. Bosworth, who retired Dec. 31, had been active in the Hollygrove-Dixon Neighborhood Association, serving as its president; the city's public schools; and Anthony Bean Community Theater, which he helped found and for which he not only acted but also raised money.

"He had passion, and he had compassion," Bean said. "If there was any hardship, and there were many, you could count on Charlie to find the money. This went on for 15 years."

His death is "a big hit for this company," Bean said. "You don't realize how important a person is until that person is no longer there."

Mr. Bosworth acted in several theaters around New Orleans in "The Heiress," "Our Town," and "To Kill a Mockingbird," as well a string of plays by August Wilson.

He acted in both of Oliver Thomas' autobiographical plays, playing Edwin Edwards in the first and narrating the second.

"Charlie didn't take no for an answer," Thomas said. "He was one of the toughest people I've ever known. He was determined, whether he was onstage acting or whether he was supporting the community theater."

A native of Fredericksburg, Va., Mr. Bosworth grew up in Cincinnati and graduated from Yale University. After serving two years in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia, he went to graduate school in history at LSU, where he earned a master's degree.

He taught briefly in Seattle before deciding to go into television, working at stations in Columbus, Ohio and New Orleans, where he was an anchor and reporter for WDSU-TV.

His next job was at KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, where he was an investigative reporter who won a Peabody Award.

After six years there, Mr. Bosworth and his family returned to New Orleans, where he got a job as a financial adviser and became involved with the city's public schools when his sons were at Benjamin Franklin High School.

"They went to every school-board meeting they could get to, and that was a lot," said Lisa Amoss, a close friend. "They looked to hold the board accountable. Anybody who had anything to do with the board knew Charles."

After Hurricane Katrina, she said, Mr. Bosworth became an active supporter of Mary McLeod Bethune School, raising money and working with teachers and students.

"That was how he approached everything he believed in," Amoss said. "He was somebody who just didn't sit back and talk about making the world a better place. He jumped in in a lot of different ways."

Mr. Bosworth, who was president of the Bean Theater's board, helped the theater land a home on South Carrollton Avenue, Bean said. "His connections got us over there and kept us in there. He was my go-to guy when I had a problem with the theater."

After Mr. Bosworth retired, his wife said she heard from many of his clients whom he had helped achieve financial comfort.

"One man wrote that he was retired and able to do so because of (Mr. Bosworth's) work," she said. "He would adopt his clients. He liked nothing better than to see them comfortable."

In addition to leading the theater's board and his neighborhood association, Mr. Bosworth was a former president of the Metairie Sunrise Rotary Club, and he sang tenor with its chorale. He was senior warden of the vestry at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, and he sat on the boards of Xavier Preparatory School and Episcopal Housing for Seniors.

Besides his wife, survivors include two sons, Graham L. and Seth Edwards Bosworth, both of New Orleans; a daughter, Dr. Hillery Bosworth of New York City; a sister, Jane Bosworth Bingham of Santa Fe, N.M., and five grandchildren.

A funeral will be held April 11 at 11 a.m. at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, at South Carrollton Avenue and Zimpel Street. Visitation will start at 10 a.m. in Chalstrom House, across Zimpel Street from the church.

Tharp-Sontheimer-Tharp Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.