Uma Pemmaraju: Original Fox News anchor dies, aged 64

Pemmaraju was one of the on-air hosts when Fox News launched in 1996

Uma Pemmaraju, one of the original Fox News anchors, has died at the age of 64.

Pemmaraju was one of the on-air hosts when Fox News first launched in 1996. Her death was announced by the network on Tuesday (9 August.)

“We are deeply saddened by the death of Uma Pemmaraju, who was one of FOX News Channel’s founding anchors and was on the air the day we launched,” Suzanne Scott, the CEO of Fox News Media, said in a statement.

“Uma was an incredibly talented journalist as well as a warm and lovely person, best known for her kindness to everyone she worked with. We extend our heartfelt condolences to her entire family.”

A cause of death was not immediately announced.

Born in India in 1958, Pemmaraju was raised in Texas, where she began her TV career. She also worked at local stations in Baltimore, Maryland, and Boston, Massachusetts (where she was an anchor at WBZ-TV), before relocating to New York, where Fox News is based.

Cindy McCain, Trudy Styler, Ban Soon Taek, Kim Cattrall, Naomi Campbell, and Uma Pemmaraju march from the United Nations on 7 March 2014 during the UN Women for Peace (UNWFP) annual ‘March in March’ to End Violence Against Women, in celebration of International Women’s Day in New York (TIMOTHY A CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)

At Fox News, Pemmaraju hosted shows such as Fox News Now and Fox On Trends. According to the network, she left for a time, then returned as an anchor in 2003. Pemmaraju also worked at Bloomberg News, as noted by CBS News Boston.

WBZ-TV anchor David Wade said on Twitter that Pemmaraju’s family had described her to him as a “noble soul and pioneer”.

Pemmaraju told The Boston Globe in 1993 of her journalism career: “I’m a conduit to help other people. I don’t want to sound too sentimental. But that’s what I’m about. I want to use my celebrity to help people, to help bring about something that needs to be done.”