NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 26: Co-host Bob Beckel attends FOX News' "The Five" at FOX Studios on February 26, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images) Bob Beckel, a Democratic strategist and former co-host of "The Five," has died at age 73.Beckel first joined Fox News in 2000 as a contributor providing political analysis and rejoined the network in 2011 as one of the original hosts of "The Five."Columnist Cal Thomas posted on Facebook about Beckel's death. Get your top stories delivered daily! Sign up for FOX 11’s Fast 5 newsletter.
And, get breaking news alerts in the FOX 11 News app. Download for iOS or Android.When "The Five" premiered in July 2011, it was only supposed to have a five-week run to temporarily fill the timeslot.
Instead, the show stuck around and has become one of the highest-rated shows in all cable news.Beckel was there during the inception of "The Five" with Dana Perino and Greg Gutfeld, who still co-host the long-running program.In 2015, he briefly joined CNN but later returned to "The Five" to continue his role as the show’s outspoken liberal.
Fox News severed ties with Beckel in 2017. Sean Hannity paid tribute to his "dear friend" Monday night, saying "he and I got along great" despite their politics, saying he "had a key to my house" and that Hannity's own children would call him "Uncle Bob.""He was always full of joy, happiness, light, sunshine.