GREENWICH, Conn., May 3 (UPI) -- The longtime host of TV's "Wall Street Week," Louis Rukeyser, has died at his Greenwich, Conn., home at age 73.
Rukeyser, who stepped down in 2003 after 32 years on the air to undergo treatment for a rare type of bone marrow cancer, died Tuesday, the Baltimore Sun reported Wednesday.
Rukeyser, who also worked as the London bureau chief for the Baltimore Sun and a correspondent at ABC News, was seen more than 4.1 million viewers when "Wall Street Week" was at its peak on PBS in the 1980s.
However, his final months on the air were via cable TV's CNBC after an ugly spat with Maryland Public Television resulted in Rukeyser leaving his longtime PBS home, the Sun noted.
"Along with 'Sesame Street,' 'Wall Street Week' was one of the first shows on PBS, a landmark series by anybody's definition," University of Maryland media economist Douglas Gomery told the Sun. "The reason for its success was Louis Rukeyser. He was the franchise -- proof that the star system worked even for PBS."
People magazine had dubbed him "the dismal science's only sex symbol" and he was hailed as the "best-dressed man in finance" by the Fashion Foundation of America.
He is survived by his wife, three daughters, two grandchildren and three brothers.
