Longtime TV News Anchor Dies of Cancer: Les Smith Was 75

A veteran news anchor has died.

Memphis-area reporter Les Smith passed away on Wednesday morning at age 75 following a brief battle with cancer, family members shared via WREG Memphis.

Smith was a journalist for nearly 40 years and began his career in TV news and sports in 1975 at a television station in Jefferson City, Missouri. He also worked at stations across Tampa and West Palm Beach, Florida before arriving in Memphis in 1983. Smith spent two years working at WMC-TV as a sports and news reporter before joining WREG-TV in 1985.

He left News Channel 3 in 1992 after spending seven years there as a sports anchor and reporter. Smith ultimately returned to his TV career in 2000 and worked as a freelance reporter at ABC 24 before moving to WHBQ-TV. There, he spent 13 years as a reporter for FOX 13 before retiring in 2014.

“Les Smith: May 27, 1950 – September 17, 2025,” Smith’s son, Jason Smith, wrote on Facebook. “One of the best to ever hold a mic in Memphis. We love you, Dad! Grateful for all the lives you touched in Memphis and beyond! J.W. Smitha nd I will do our best to carry on your legacy!”

His family revealed last week that Smith was in the hospital battling lung cancer, with Jason taking to Facebook on Sept. 12 to share that his dad returned from Belize in “bad shape physically.” He continued, “After insisting on spending the weekend with his sons and grandchildren, Dad agreed to go to the hospital on Tuesday. He’s now on Day 4 in the hospital and will soon have a surgery to further drain the fluid in his lung.”

Jason kept putting out updates as his dad spent more time in the hospital getting fluid drained, and it seemed like he was getting better as he shared on Monday. He noted that he got a text from his brother, he revealed their dad was up and had his eyes open and listening and answering. They were remaining optimistic, but it seems things took a turn for the worse.

“While sports introduced us to Les, his talent was too large to be confined to just one area, even one as monolithic as the world of sports,” his former FOX 13 boss, Ken Jobe, said in a tribute.  “When Les turned his talents to news, he was already a familiar face to the community. Les used that familiarity to great extent. He could walk into places a lot of people would be wary of and get people to tell their stories. He could also walk into boardrooms and top political offices and be welcomed and get information that no others could get. Memphians at all levels knew Les and trusted him to tell their stories truthfully and fairly.”