Irv Kupcinet Irv Kupcinet ( July 31 , 1912 – November 10 , 2003 ) was an American newspaper columnist for the " Chicago Sun - Times " , television talk - show host , and a radio broadcast personality based in Chicago , Illinois . He was popularly known by the nickname " Kup " . His daily " Kup ' s Column " was launched in 1943 and remained a fixture in the " Sun - Times " for the next six decades . Early life . Kupcinet was youngest of four children born to Russian immigrants in the North Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago . While attending high school , he became editor of the school newspaper and the senior class president . He eventually won a football scholarship to Northwestern University , but a scuffle with another student led to his transferring to the University of North Dakota . Career . Upon graduating college , Kupcinet was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles football team in 1935 . His football career was cut short due to a shoulder injury , which led him to take a job as a sports writer for the " Chicago Daily Times " ( now known as the " Chicago Sun - Times " ) in 1935 . While writing his sports column , Kupcinet also wrote a short " People " section which became officially known as " Kup ' s Column " in 1948 , after " The Chicago Sun " and the " Daily Times " merged to form the " Chicago Sun - Times " . " Kup ' s Column " chronicled the nightlife of Chicago , along with celebrity and political gossip . The column would eventually be distributed to more than 100 newspapers around the world . In 1952 , Kupcinet became a pioneer in the television talk show genre when he landed his own talk show . In 1957 , he was one of the set of hosts who replaced Steve Allen on " The Tonight Show " , before Jack Paar was brought in to change the program ' s format . Kupcinet ' s own series ran from 1959 until 1986 and was , at one point , syndicated to over 70 stations throughout the United States . The series garnered 15 Emmy Award s along with a Peabody Award . In addition to writing his newspaper column and talk - show hosting duties , Kupcinet provided commentary for radio broadcasts of Chicago Bears football games with Jack Brickhouse ( and was affectionately mocked for the signature phrase , " Dat ' s right , Jack " ) . He made cameo appearances in two movies — 1959 ' s " Anatomy of a Murder " and the 1962 drama " Advise and Consent " . In 1982 , Kupcinet was elected to Chicago ' s Journalism Hall of Fame . In 1988 , Kupcinet published his autobiography , " Kup : A Man , an Era , a City " . Personal life . Kupcinet met Esther " Essee " Solomon while she was a Northwestern student , and married her in 1939 . The couple would have two children ; a daughter , Karyn in 1941 , and a son , Jerry in 1944 . The Kupcinets ' daughter , Karyn , moved to Hollywood in the early 1960s to pursue an acting career . On November 30 , 1963 , Karyn ' s nude body was found in her West Hollywood apartment . To date , her mysterious death , ruled to be a homicide by strangulation , as her hyoid bone had been broken , has never been solved . The Kupcinets established a theater named in her honor at Shimer College , then located in Mount Carroll , Illinois . The Kupcinets ' son , Jerry Kupcinet , is an Emmy Award winning director of such shows as Judge Judy and 20 / 20 . His wife Essee died in 2001 ; they were married for 62 years . Death . On November 10 , 2003 , Kupcinet died from respiratory complications from pneumonia at Northwestern Memorial Hospital , in Chicago . He was 91 years old .