INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Feb. 11, 2016) – An Indianapolis television pioneer has died.

Chuck Marlowe, a longtime WTTV media personality and Indiana Broadcast Pioneer Hall of Fame member, passed away at the age of 86, according to his family.

Marlowe was well known as the host of The Bob Knight Show, which ran weekly for 29 years and was the longest running coach’s show in the country at the time.

Marlowe performed TV play-by-play duties for IU basketball starting in 1958 and spent 41 years at a pit reporter for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network’s broadcast of the Indianapolis 500.

Marlowe was the serious announcer for the otherwise campy Big Time/Championship Wrestling, which featured wrestling favorites like Dick “The Bruiser,” “The Sheik” and Wilbur Snyder.

Marlowe was sports director for WTTV on its nightly news broadcasts, joining favorites Janie (Hodges), Cowboy Bob (Glaze), Sammy Terry (Bob Carter) as the faces of the iconic independent television station. He was recognized by his peers with the Indiana Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Lifetime Achievement Award.

“I’ve been the luckiest person on the planet,” Marlowe once said about his career in local TV. “I’m in that rare group of individuals who can say they loved their jobs every single day. Because I loved it, it was never work to me.”

Marlowe’s career began in 1952 at radio station WXLW. He also had stints at WGRT (Danville) and WHMB (Indianapolis). However, his 37 years at WTTV Channel 4 defined his career.

A graduate of Shortridge High School in Indianapolis, he entered the school’s Hall of Fame in 2014. The Sullivan, Ind., native graduated from Butler University.

He is survived by his wife, Marian, a sister, four sons and their families. Additional survivors include a nephew, cousins, four stepchildren, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Private services are planned. A celebration of life service will be announced later.