David Downs Hartman (born May 19, 1935, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States) is a well-known American actor and television personality. He is presently anchoring and hosting documentary programs on cable TV's "History Channel" and on PBS. Hartman is most known as the first and long running host of ABC's Good Morning America, from 1975-1987. Before Good Morning America, he gained his only acting popularity in the 1970s as E.G. Marshall's young, non-surgical resident, Dr. Paul Hunter on The Bold Ones: The New Doctors.
Hartman attended Mount Hermon School (now Northfield Mount Hermon) and was actually geared toward professional baseball in high school. However, he turned down a baseball scholarship to attend Duke University where he majored in economics and became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. After college, he served three years active duty as an officer in the U.S. Air Force, Strategic Air Command.
After working in films that didn't pan out, such as The Ballad of Josie (1967) and Did You Hear the One About the Traveling Saleslady? (1968), he refocused on television, and won serious attention as a dedicated doctor on The Bold Ones: The New Doctors. He was also the main actor of the movie The Island at the Top of the World (1974).
In 1973, Hartman did a popular remake of "Miracle on 34th Street", with actor Sebastian Cabot. On the 1974-75 NBC series Lucas Tanner, Hartman played a retired baseball player turned unconventional high school teacher. The cancellation of his series marked the end of his acting career.
Just a few months later, in November of 1975, Hartman became the co-host of ABC's new show Good Morning America (1975-1987). During his 11 years as host, GMA became the highest rated morning news program. He conducted more than 12,000 interviews.
More recently, Mr. Hartman has been an anchor and host of a series of well-regarded documentaries on the Discovery Channel and PBS member station WNET in New York City.
Produced by James Nicoloro, the PBS documentaries are a series of "Walk Through" documentaries about various communities around New York City, which include A Walk Down 42nd Street (August 1998), A Walk Up Broadway (March 1999), A Walk Through Harlem (December 1999)blank">http://www.thirteen.org/harlem/, A Walk Around Brooklyn with David Hartman and Historian Barry Lewis (2000)http://www.thirteen.org/brooklyn/, A Walk Through Greenwich Village (2001), A Walk Through Central Park (2001)http://www.thirteen.org/Centralpark/, A Walk Through Newarkhttp://www.thirteen.org/newark/ (2002), A Walk Through Hoboken (2003)http://www.thirteen.org/hoboken/, A Walk Through Queens (2004)http://www.thirteen.org/queens, A Walk Through the Bronx (2005) http://www.thirteen.org/bronx/, and A Walk Around Staten Island (2007) http://www.thirteen.org/statenisland/.
In North Carolina, Hartman is also heard on _North Carolina Public Radio and WCPE-FM as the host of the North Carolina Symphony radio broadcasts.
David Hartman (born 1931) is an American rabbi and philosopher of contemporary Judaism and an internationally renowned Jewish author.
Born in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, New York, Hartman attended Yeshiva Chaim Berlin and the Lubavitch Yeshiva. In 1953, having studied with Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, he received his rabbinical ordination from Yeshiva University in New York. He continued to study with Rabbi Soloveitchik until 1960, while pursuing a graduate degree in philosophy with Robert C. Pollock at Fordham University. From his teacher Rabbi Soloveitchik, David learned that the practice of Judaism can be integrated with a deep respect for knowledge regardless of its source. From Professor Pollock he learned to joyfully celebrate the variety of spiritual rhythms present in the American experience.
After serving as a congregational rabbi in the Bronx, New York, from 1955-1960, David Hartman became Rabbi of Congregation Tiferet Beit David Jerusalem in Montreal, where he had a profound influence on the lives of many of his congregants, some of whom followed him to Israel when he moved there in 1971. While in Montreal, he also taught and studied at McGill University and received his Ph.D. in philosophy.
In 1971, Hartman immigrated to Israel with his wife Barbara and their five children, a move which he viewed as an essential part of his mission to encourage a greater understanding between Jews of diverse affiliations – both in Israel and the Jewish diaspora – and to help build a more pluralistic and tolerant Israeli society . It is with this vision that David Hartman founded the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem in 1976, dedicating it to his father. At the institute, Prof. Hartman leads a team of research scholars in the study and teaching of classical Jewish sources and contemporary issues of Israeli society and Jewish life. His work emphasizes the centrality of the rebirth of the State of Israel – the challenge as well as the opportunities it offers to contemporary Judaism. His teachings draw upon the tradition of Orthodox Judaism and emphasize religious pluralism, both among Jews and in interfaith relations. In addition to the institute he has open a high school nearby it.
Professor of Jewish Thought at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he taught for over two decades, Hartman was also visiting Professor of Jewish Thought at the University of California, Berkeley during 1986/1987 and at the University of California, Los Angeles during 1997/1998. His involvement goes beyond the academic fields, in which he has published extensively, and his influence has also been felt in Israel’s political and educational arenas: from 1977-1984, he served as an advisor to Zevulun Hammer, former Israeli Minister of Education, and he has been advisor to a number of Israeli prime ministers on the subject of religious pluralism in Israel and the relationship between Israel and the Diaspora.
Hartman’s publications in Jewish philosophy have received wide recognition and become standard references in academic scholarship. He was awarded the National Jewish Book Award in 1977 for Maimonides: Torah and Philosophic Quest (Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia, 1976) and in 1986 for the recently reissued A Living Covenant: The Innovative Spirit in Traditional Judaism (Jewish Lights Publishing, Woodstock, Vermont, 1997 www.jewishlights.com). In 1993, the Hebrew translation of A Living Covenant From Sinai to Zion (Am Oved Publishers) was awarded the Leah Goldberg Prize. A Heart of Many Rooms: Celebrating the Many Voices Within Judaism was published by Jewish Lights Publishing in 1999. Israelis and the Jewish Tradition: an Ancient People Debating Its Future was published by Yale University Press, 2000, Love and Terror in the God Encounter: the Theological Legacy of Joseph B. Soloveitchik was published by Jewish Lights 2001. The Hebrew translation of Israelis and the Jewish Tradition (Moreshet b’machloket) was published by Schocken Publishing House, 2002.
Hartman was awarded the AVI CHAI Prize in the year 2000 and on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Shalom Hartman Institute he was awarded the Guardian of Jerusalem Prize. He was the recipient of an honorary doctorate from Yale University in May 2003. In 2004 David Hartman received an honorary doctorate from Hebrew Union College and was awarded the Samuel Rothberg Prize for Jewish Education by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Genial, toothsome actor and host David Hartman grew up learning to play a number of musical instruments and studied choral singing as well. He was actually geared toward professional baseball in high school, but turned down a scholarship to attend Duke University and instead majored in economics. While there he found himself in radio and TV spots. Military service (Air Force) interrupted his fledgling career, but he eventually got back on track with roles on the musical stage and some television parts. When working in films as a light leading man didn't pan out with such bland, forgettable work in Ballad of Josie, The (1967) and Did You Hear the One About the Traveling Saleslady? (1968), he refocused on the small screen and won serious attention as a dedicated doctor on "Bold Ones: The New Doctors, The" (1969) series. He reached the zenith of his TV career, however, with his long running stint as co-host of "Good Morning America" (1975). His responsible yet pleasant personality and resonant voice earned the show the #1 slot for many of his 11 years. As a writer, producer and host, he has won multiple Emmy and journalism awards and is well known for his award-winning documentaries. Out of the limelight for a time, he has more recently been seen as host of a New York "Walk..." tour series on cable. Married twice (his first wife died), he has fathered five children.
