One of his first tasks at the paper was to transport images to the Daily News offices in Manhattan from the Lindbergh kidnapping trial in Flemington, New Jersey.
[1] He served in the United States Army during World War II, stationed on Okinawa as a reporter for Stars and Stripes.
[2] Watt not only covered Broadway, he was also a pianist and songwriter whose songs "After All These Years" and "Heaven Help Me" were recorded by Doris Day and Frankie Laine.
He was friends with composers Frank Loesser, Richard Rodgers and Kurt Weill, and helped spur the careers of Eugene O'Neill and Tennessee Williams.
During his career at the Daily News, he was able to attend the 1949 debut of Death of a Salesman starring Lee J. Cobb in the title role of Willy Loman, as well as the 50th-anniversary production of the play with Brian Dennehy in the lead.