Robert Trout's career as a radio and television broadcaster spanned almost the entire history of those media in the twentieth century. His colleagues and the public admired the intelligence, fairness, subtlety, and self-depreciating wit that informed his work. Trout, born Robert Blondheim in Washington D.C. in 1909, originally aspired to a writing career. In 1931, he was doing odd jobs and developing scenarios for plays at radio station WJSV in Alexandria, Virginia, when he filled in on the air. Soon, he was writing, editing, and broadcasting regularly. The Columbia Broadcasting Network (CBS) took WJSV as its first Washington, D.C. area affiliate in 1932, and Trout covered the election and inauguration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt for the network. In 1935, CBS transferred Trout to New York City and designated him its first Special Events Reporter. The network had no news department at that time. Trout reported news events, conducted interviews, hosted entertainment programs, and became radio's first news anchor. In 1938, Trout wed Catherine Kit Crane. She became a significant partner in his career, serving as his personal manager, providing him with research for his broadcasts, and critiquing his on-air performances.
For over sixty years, Trout worked in American broadcasting. He could remain on the air for hours at a time, reporting calmly and accurately, which earned him the nickname, The Iron Man of Radio. His coverage of breaking news during World War Two shaped the memories of many Americans, and his reports from political conventions and presidential inaugurations became institutions. Ultimately, he covered almost all of America's major party conventions, presidential elections and inaugurations between Roosevelt's election in 1932 and the conventions of 2000. Though Trout spent most of his career at CBS, he also broadcast for the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and for the American Broadcasting Company (ABC).
In 1965, the Trouts moved to Europe, residing in Paris and later Madrid. Trout wrote commentary pieces and acted as a European correspondent on radio and television for CBS and later ABC. Following Kit Trout's death and his retirement from ABC in the mid-1990s, Trout divided his time between New York and Madrid. His commentaries appeared on National Public Radio (NPR) from 1995 until two weeks before his death, at the age of ninety-one, in November 2000.
From the guide to the Trout, Robert, papers 2000-69; 2000-254; 2001-011; 2009-300., 1930-2003, (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin)
