remove citation that no longer supports the (recently expanded) text; cited page (which I added 4 years ago) supported only that his middle initial was P.
'''Robert Prime Beattie'''<ref name=middlebury>{{cite web|title=Achievement Award Recipients: 1984|url=http://www.middlebury.edu/alumni/mcaa/awards/aawinners/node/88441|publisher=[[Middlebury College]]|accessdate=February 17, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://voterrecords.com/voter/1140027/robert-beattie|title=Robert Prime Beattie's Colorado Voter Registration|publisher=VoterRecords}}</ref> (January 24, 1933 – April 1, 2018) was an American [[Alpine skiing|skiing]] [[Coach (sport)|coach]], skiing promoter and [[sports commentator|commentator]] for [[ESPN on ABC|ABC Sports]] and [[ESPN]]. He was head coach of the [[United States Ski Team|U.S. Ski Team]] from 1961 to 1969<ref name="stowe reporter 2013"/> and co-founded the [[FIS Alpine Ski World Cup|Alpine Skiing World Cup]] in 1966. His work as a ski-racing commentator for [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] included four [[Winter Olympic Games]], from 1976 through 1988.
'''Robert Prime Beattie'''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://voterrecords.com/voter/1140027/robert-beattie|title=Robert Prime Beattie's Colorado Voter Registration|publisher=VoterRecords}}</ref> (January 24, 1933 – April 1, 2018) was an American [[Alpine skiing|skiing]] [[Coach (sport)|coach]], skiing promoter and [[sports commentator|commentator]] for [[ESPN on ABC|ABC Sports]] and [[ESPN]]. He was head coach of the [[United States Ski Team|U.S. Ski Team]] from 1961 to 1969<ref name="stowe reporter 2013"/> and co-founded the [[FIS Alpine Ski World Cup|Alpine Skiing World Cup]] in 1966. His work as a ski-racing commentator for [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] included four [[Winter Olympic Games]], from 1976 through 1988.
==Early life==
==Early life==
Revisionasof11:41,6April2018
For other people with the same name, see Bob Beattie.
Beattie was born in Manchester, New Hampshire, on January 24, 1933,[2][3] to Robert Archibald Beattie (1904–1975), a sales manager for a roofing company,[4] and Katherine Simpson (née Prime; 1906–1995), a homemaker.[5][6] He had a younger brother, John M.[5] He graduated from Manchester Central High School in 1950.[5][7] He attended Middlebury CollegeinVermont, where he participated in several sports, including football, tennis, cross country, and skiing.[2][4] After graduating in 1955 with a degree in education, he remained at Middlebury as an assistant coach.[2]
Coaching career
In 1956, he was named acting coach of the school's ski team after coach Bobo Sheehan left to coach the alpine skiers on the 1956 U.S. Olympic Team.[2] In 1957, Beattie became the head skiing coach for the University of ColoradoinBoulder, and during his tenure the team won the NCAA national titles in 1959 and 1960.[8][2] In 1961, the U.S. Ski Association named Beattie the U.S. Ski Team's head alpine coach.[9][10] He continued to work concurrently for the university until 1965.[9][11][12]
In 1966, Beattie co-founded the World Cup for alpine skiing.[14] After stepping down as U.S. team coach in 1969, he founded the World Pro Ski Tour in 1970 and worked in promoting it.[19] He became a NASTAR commissioner in 1970.[14]ABC Sports hired him as a ski-racing commentator, where he was frequently paired with Frank Gifford, a former NFL running back. Beattie's television work included alpine commentary during ABC's coverage of four Winter Olympics: the games of 1976, 1980, 1984,[2] and 1988.[20] He also covered Volleyball at the 1984 Summer Olympics.[21] Beattie later worked as ABC's winter sports correspondent, which also involved non-alpine sports,[22] and occasionally worked as an announcer for non-winter sports on ABC's Wide World of Sports program.[23]
He continued to manage the World Pro Ski Tour until 1982.[14] He started hosting ESPN skiing programs in 1985.[23]
Beattie had authored or co-authored three books,[9] including My Ten Secrets of Skiing (Viking Press, NY; 1968)[24] and Bob Beattie's Learn to Ski (Bantam Books, 1967).[25]
Beattie had two children, Zeno and Susan, from his first marriage to Ann Dwinnell.[3][6] His second marriage was to Olympic skier Kiki Cutter[28][29] and lasted from 1971 to 1973.[4] He married a third time in 1980, to Cheryl Britton, a manager of a local secondhand clothing store,[4] and that marriage lasted until 1987.[citation needed] He was married to Marci Rose Beattie (née Cohen)[30] until his death in 2018.[6]