WBRZ's 70 for 70 will profile some of the personalities who have been on Channel 2's air since it went to broadcast 70 years ago.
This week on 70 for 70, bask in the sunshine with former Louisiana governor Jimmie Davis.
Davis served as the governor of the state from 1944 to 1948 and again from 1960 to 1964.
Aside from being a politician, he was also a country singer and songwriter and is most famously known for the hit song "You Are My Sunshine," which was later instated as Louisiana's official song.
You can see the full 70 for 70 list here.
]]>
WBRZ's 70 for 70 will profile some of the personalities who have been on Channel 2's air since it went to broadcast 70 years ago.
This week on 70 for 70, relive some of LSU Baseball's glory days with Skip Bertman.
Skip Bertman was hired to be the LSU baseball coach in 1984. During his tenure, he saw the Tigers to 16 NCAA tournaments, 11 College World Series appearances, seven SEC championship appearances and five national championships titles in the 18 seasons he headed the team.
While coaching at LSU, Bertman was honored as the Collegiate Baseball Coach of the Year five times, Baseball America Coach of the Year twice and SEC Coach of the Year seven times in a row.
He moved to work on the LSU Athletics administration in 2001 and stayed there for seven years. He now serves as a fundraising expert for the athletics department.
You can see the full 70 for 70 list here.
]]>
Over the last 70 years, WBRZ has seen countless personalities, newsmakers, community servants and celebrities come onto our air. As part of our celebration of Channel 2's anniversary, here is a list of 70 people who have appeared on air since we began.
John Pastorek will have interviews with some of the people on the list - they'll be linked here!
70 news makers, movers and shakers, community servants who have informed, influenced and inspired our community. They’ve appeared on WBRZ over the last 70 years.
1. Michael Acaldo - Former head of Baton Rouge shelter, St. Vincent de Paul
2. Seimone Augustus - Record-setting basketball player with LSU who now serves as assistant coach
3. Skip Bertman - Legendary LSU baseball coach who led the team to five national championships
4. Kathleen Blanco - Louisiana's 54th governor and to date the only woman ever elected to the seat
5. Dale Brown - 25-year coach of LSU men's basketball
6. Major Reginald Brown - Community leader who served in law enforcement for 40
7. Grace Broussard - Successful musician born in Prairieville
8. Butch Browning - Former State Fire Marshal who now works as director of National Association of State Fire Marshals
9. Joe Burrow - Heisman award-winning LSU quarterback known for LSU's 2019 championship run
10. D.D. Breaux - Former LSU gymnastics coach with a slew of accolades
11. Sharon Weston-Broome - Former Baton Rouge Mayor-President
12. Roger Cador - Former head coach of the Southern Jaguars' baseball team
13. Billy Cannon - Heisman award-winning halfback, return specialist and safety for the LSU Tigers from 1957 to 1959
14. Holly Clegg - A Baton Rouge native and holiday chef who died of cancer in 2019
15. Andrea Clesi - Former WBRZ anchor who sat at the desk for 31 years to keep her community informed
16. Sister Linda Constantin - Longtime nurse working at Mary Bird Perkins who died of cancer in 2005
17. Willie Davenport - Southern University alum who competed in Olympic sprinting
18. Jimmie Davis - Former Louisiana governor who wrote "You Are My Sunshine"
19. Paula Pennington de la Bretonne - A member of the Pennington family and local philanthropist who used to own the most expensive home in Baton Rouge
20. Donna Douglas - Late television star of "The Beverly Hillbillies" who laid her estate in Livingston Parish
21. Jayden Daniels - Multiple award-winning LSU Tigers quarterback
22. Paul Dietzel - Former LSU football coach
23. W.W. “Woody” Dumas - Former Baton Rouge Mayor-President
24. Edwin Edwards - Three-time Louisiana governor who went to federal prison for corruption
25. Mike Foster - Former Louisiana governor from Franklin who started the TOPS system
26. Ernest Gaines - Award-winning writer and novelist who was born in Pointe Coupee Parish
27. Jim Garrison - New Orleans prosecutor who said the JFK assassin didn't act alone
28. John Fred Gourrier - Member of the band "John Fred and His Playboy Band" who wrote "Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)"
29. Todd Graves - Baton Rouge entrepreneur who started restaurant Raising Cane's
30. Sue Gunter - Former LSU Women's Basketball coach
31. Melvin “Kip” Holden - Former Baton Rouge Mayor-President
32. Lt. General Russel Honore - Retired Lieutenant General who served as the 33rd commanding general of the U.S. First Army who went to Southern University
33. Jay Johnson - As of 2025, current head coach for LSU baseball
34. Rev. T. J. Jemison - Civil rights activist who led the first-ever bus boycott in Baton Rouge
35. Bobby Jindal - Two-term Louisiana Governor who served from 2008 to 2016
36. Johnnie Jones - First Black warden in the Louisiana Department of Corrections
37. Price LeBlanc - Owner of prominent local car dealerships
38. John Mahaffey - Former WBRZ anchor known as the "Walter Cronkite" of Baton Rouge
39. Dr. Catherine O’Neal - Louisiana doctor who largely led the state's COVID response
40. Shaquille O’Neal - Global basketball star who attended and played for LSU
41. Bishop Stanley Ott - Catholic bishop and namesake of the Bishop Ott Center, a 24/7 emergency shelter
42. Judge John Parker - Long-serving Baton Rouge judge who oversaw one of the state's first desegregation cases
43. Mary Evelyn Parker - First woman to serve as state treasurer from 1968 to 1987
44. Claude “Doc” Pennington - Former Pennington Biomedical Research Center Executive Director
45. Bob Pettit - Award-winning basketball player who played with LSU from 1951 to 1954
46. Justice Catherine “Kitty” Kimball - Former Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court
47. Chris Thomas King - Grammy-award-winning blues artist and son of Tabby Thomas
48. Mary Landrieu - Former U.S. Senator
49. Russell Long - Former U.S Senator
50. Gaylynne Mack - Executive Director of Big Buddy Program in Baton Rouge
51. Mary Manhein - "The Bone Lady" who worked at the LSU FACES lab to identify bodies and work serial killer investigations
53. Paula Garvey Manship - Baton Rouge philanthropist who married Charles Manship, the president of the Capital City Press
54. Richard Manship - Longstanding pillar of the broadcasting community who assumed the head position at WBRZ after his father, Douglas Manship Sr., retired
55. Pete Maravich - LSU basketball player nicknamed "Pistol Pete" who led the league in scoring before the invention of the three-point line and shot clock
56. SJ Montalbano “Sam Montel” - Local music legend who produced a national No. 1 hit in 1963 and founded his own record label afterward
57. Henson Moore - Served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1975 to 1987
58. Warren Morris - LSU baseball player who hit a walk-off home run in 1996 to secure the Tigers' National Championship win
59. Kim Mulkey - LSU women's basketball head coach who transformed the program into a championship-caliber team with her tough love and sparkly outfits
60. Brooks Read - A Baton Rouge journalist and storyteller who is beloved for his recordings of the "Brer Rabbit" stories
61. Angel Reese - LSU's women's basketball player nicknamed the "Bayou Barbie," who led the tigers to their first ever NCAA Championship in 2023
62. Pete Richardson - Head football coach at Southern University who led the team to five SWAC titles
63. Eddie Robinson - Grambling State University football coach who headed the program for 55 years
64. Charles “Buddy” Roemer - Governor of Louisiana from 1988 to 1992
65. Donna Saurage - Manager of Community Coffee
66. Pat Screen - Former East Baton Rouge Parish mayor who was an LSU quarterback before his time in office
67. Pat Shingleton - Beloved weatherman who started Baton Rouge's "Wearin' of the Green Parade"
68. Brittany Spears - Kentwood native turned international pop star
69. Jimmy Swaggart - Evangelical caught in the middle of a scandal, captured in a 1983 report by John Camp called "Give Me That Big Time Religion"
70. Doug Williams - 1988 Superbowl champion and Zachary native
]]>