Bill Moyers, former press secretary to President Lyndon B Johnson and veteran journalist, has died, his family confirmed to CNN on Thursday. He was 91 years old. According to his family, Johnson’s wife of over 70 years, Judith Davidson Moyers, was by his side. His son William Cope Moyers confirmed the death at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Paying tribute on social media, one person wrote: “Bill Moyers gave us so much, from his work on the Great Society, numerous books & interviews (including his series w/ Joseph Campbell). One of his last major projects was a documentary on Rikers that solely used the voices of people who’d been locked up there. What a life. RIP.”
“A man loyal to his Country, so much so that he stood up to the President for whom he served and said he was wrong in Vietnam,” another one added on X, platform formerly known as Twitter.
What is Bill Moyers’ cause of death?
While no specific condition has been revealed, Moyers’ family said he died of complications from a long illness. The cause was complications from prostate cancer, his son told The Washington Post. Moyers died at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan.
Born Billy Don Moyers on June 5, 1934, in Hugo, Oklahoma, Moyers rose from a small-town journalist to a pivotal figure in American media. His career spanned roles as a Baptist minister, deputy director of the Peace Corps (1962–63), and Johnson’s press secretary (1965–67), before he became a broadcast legend. The 91-year-old produced over 70 PBS documentaries and series, including Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth (1988) and Healing and the Mind (1993), earning over 30 Emmys, 11 Peabodys, and a 1995 Television Hall of Fame induction.
“He used the tools of the documentarian to wield a velvet sledgehammer, bludgeoning corporate polluters and government ne’er-do-wells with precision and grace,” New York Times media columnist David Carr wrote in 2004.
Moyers and his wife had three children, William Cope, Alice Suzanne, and John Davidson.
