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Jane Pauley
Pauley at the 2012 Time 100
Born	Margaret Jane Pauley (1950-10-31) October 31, 1950 (age 61) Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Journalist News reporter News anchor Television host
Years active	1972–present
Spouse	Garry Trudeau (1980-present)
Children	Ross and Rachel (twins; born 1983) Thomas (born 1986)

Margaret Jane Pauley (born October 31, 1950 in Indianapolis, Indiana), better known as Jane Pauley, is an American television journalist, and has been involved in news reporting since 1975. She is best known for her 13-year tenure on NBC's Today program, followed by 12 years as co-host of Dateline NBC, and for her public acknowledgements of her struggle with mental health and bipolar disorder.^[1]

Pauley competed in debate and public speaking tournaments through the Indiana High School Forensic Association while enrolled at Warren Central High School in Indianapolis. Pauley graduated from Warren Central High School in 1968. She subsequently earned a scholarship to Indiana University, where she was involved in the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. After college, she worked from 1972 to 1975 at WISH in Indianapolis and from 1975 to 1976 at WMAQ in Chicago. She also lived for a time in Pittsburgh, where her sister still resides and makes a career. ^[2] From there, she joined network television.

From 1976 to 1989 Pauley was the co-host, with Tom Brokaw and later Bryant Gumbel, of NBC's The Today Show. Following in the footsteps, both in career and in style, of the first female anchor of the show, Barbara Walters, she became a symbol for professional women, more specifically female journalists, in the 1980s (In her autobiography, "And So It Goes", Pauley's colleague Linda Ellerbee wrote, "She (Pauley) is what I want to be when I grow up"). NBC briefly experimented with a trio of anchors, Pauley, Gumbel, and Chris Wallace, before returning to a co-anchor format with Gumbel and with Pauley serving in a deferential co-host capacity.

In 1989, following months of conjecture about Pauley's publicly reported dislike of the grueling morning assignment and ambition to work in prime-time television, she announced her resignation from Today. Speculation in the media seemed to imply that NBC executives had eased her out to advance younger NBC newscaster Deborah Norville, who had begun to play a larger role in the two-hour morning program.

After leaving The Today Show, Pauley hosted Real Life with Jane Pauley and served as deputy anchor for NBC Nightly News.

From 1992 to 2003, Pauley co-hosted NBC's Dateline NBC. In 2004, she returned to television as host of The Jane Pauley Show, a syndicated daytime talk show lasted for one season. On the show, she discussed her bipolar disorder at length.

Much like her earlier attempt at solo hosting following her Today tenure, The Jane Pauley Show never gained traction in the ratings, and was canceled after one season. Since her talk show's cancellation, Pauley has made few appearances on television programs. She led a half-hour discussion on PBS' Depression: Out of the Shadows, which aired in May 2008. She also campaigned publicly for President Obama in her home state of Indiana and participates in the Smart Talk Lecture Series.

In September 2009, Pauley lent her name to the Jane Pauley Community Health Center, a facility in collaboration between the Community Health Network and the Metropolitan School District of Warren Township, Indiana. The center serves the local community, including students and their families, regardless of insurance or income, with an emphasis on integrating medical, dental and behaviorial health. Pauley, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2001, insisted that the center address all aspects of wellness.

In 2009, Pauley joined the Board of Directors of The Mind Trust, an Indianapolis-based non-profit organization that supports education innovation and reform.^[3] She is also AARP's Ambassador of "Your Life Calling."^[4] In this role Pauley reports on how people age 50+ are reinventing the way they live and work. Your Life Calling Episodes are featured each month on the Today show.^[5]

Pauley is also affiliated with the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, where she serves on the institute’s leadership board. She spoke publicly about her experience with bipolar disorder at the institute’s opening ceremony in 2005, and she also appears in a 2009 video about the research mission of the institute. She also serves on the board of directors and chairs the Advisory Council for the Children's Health Fund in NYC.

Pauley is known for revealing very little, if anything, of her private life, which made the disclosure of her bipolar disorder all the more unexpected. The timing of her announcement coincided with the release of her autobiography, Skywriting: A Life Out of the Blue (2004) and the launch of her daytime talk show.

In October 2006, Pauley and her lawyers filed a lawsuit against The New York Times for allegedly duping her into lending her name and likeness to an advertising supplement popular with drug companies. Pauley maintains she believed she was being interviewed by a Times reporter.

Pauley is married to Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau, and they have three children: twins Ross and Rachel, born in 1983, and Thomas, born in 1986.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jane Pauley at the Internet Movie Database
• Ubben Lecture at DePauw University on April 17, 2009
• Lawsuit filed against the New York Times and DeWitt Publishing
• Jane Pauley Named 2007 Winner of Cronkite Award
• Video about McGovern Institute for Brain Research, featuring appearance by Jane Pauley
• Your Life Calling with Jane Pauley, from AARP on YouTube

Joy Behar
Behar attending the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards, March 13, 2010
Born	Josephina Victoria Occhiuto (1942-10-07) October 7, 1942 (age 69) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actress Comedian Writer Co-host on The View Host on The Joy Behar Show
Years active	1984–present
Religion	None (agnostic)
Spouse	Joe Behar (1965–1981) Steve Janowitz (2011–present)

Joy Behar (born Josephina Victoria Occhiuto; born October 7, 1942)^[1] is an American comedian, writer, actress, and a co-host of the talk show The View. Behar had a commentary program, entitled The Joy Behar Show, on CNN's sister network, HLN.^[2] It was cancelled on November 17, 2011.^[3]

Early life[link]

Behar, an Italian-American, was born Josephina Victoria Occhiuto in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on October 7, 1942. Her mother, Rose (née Carbone), was a seamstress, and her father, Gino Occhiuto, was a truck driver for Coca-Cola.^[4][5] Her grandfather was Giuseppe Occhiuto born in Fagnano Castello, Cosenza, Calabria, Italy.^[6] She started off her career as a teacher at Lindenhurst High School. There she taught English class.^[7]

Career[link]

[edit] The early years & The View

Joy Behar got her start in show business in the early 1980s as a stand up comedian, including appearances on ABC's Good Morning America, and The New Show, a short lived Lorne Michaels NBC project. In 1987 she had a talk show on Lifetime Television called 'Way Off Broadway'. From there she continued to work the comedy club circuit, was a regular on NBC's Baby Boom, and had minor film rolls including Cookie, This Is My Life, and Manhattan Murder Mystery. She also was a WABC (AM) radio talk show host, and made appearances on HBO Comedy Specials 'One Night Stand' and 'Women Of The Night 2',

In 1997 Behar became one of the original cast members of Barbara Walters's ABC television creation, The View. Originally, Behar appeared only on the days when Walters was away from the show; ultimately, Behar became a regular co-host, with the panel expanding to five when Walters rejoined. Behar often hosts a segment called "Joy's Comedy Corner" in which she presents up-and-coming comedians.

Star Jones, former co-host on The View, and Behar had well-publicized disputes. On March 27, 2006, Star Jones called in to the show to discuss a recent operation that she had undergone. After talking with the show's co-hosts, Behar abruptly stated to Jones, "OK, Star. That's enough about you. On to us. Bye. Keep your [breasts] perky!"^[8] Jones then responded, "Even today, you [Behar] are still a bitch."^[8]

In August 2009 Behar, alongside her co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Sherri Shepherd, Barbara Walters and Elisabeth Hasselbeck, won the 36th Annual Daytime Emmy award for Outstanding Talk Show Host. It follows over a decade of nominations for The View. None of the co-hosts of the show traveled from New York to Los Angeles to attend the ceremony, however.^[9]

Other work[link]

Behar has also made theater appearances in The Food Chain and The Vagina Monologues. Behar wrote a book of humorous essays and stories called Joy Shtick — Or What is the Existential Vacuum and Does It Come with Attachments?, published in 1999. She has also written a children's book called Sheetzucacapoopoo: My Kind of Dog, published in 2006.

Behar frequently incorporates her Italian-American culture into her comedy and once told Charlie Rose on his PBS program that her grandmother kept a picture of Mussolini in her home.

She appeared on the eighth season of Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown and finished in fourth place, behind Robin Tunney, Christopher Meloni and Macy Gray, but ahead of Andy Dick. She played for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.

Beginning in 2007, she has occasionally filled in as a guest host on Larry King Live. On June 11, 2009, Behar announced that she would be hosting her own news/talk program on CNN's HLN beginning in the fall of 2009, titled The Joy Behar Show. She did not leave The View, but worked on both shows simultaneously.^[2] The final broadcast of the The Joy Behar Show was on December 15, 2011.

Behar played the part of "Dr. Lucy" in the 2011 comedy film Hall Pass.^[10]

Personal life[link]

Occhiuto married Joe Behar in January 1965; they divorced in 1981. They have one daughter, Eve (b. 1970).^[11] Joy Behar has been in a relationship with Steve Janowitz since July 10, 1982, whom she called her 'spousal equivalent'. On March 17, 2009, Behar announced on The View that she might eventually marry Janowitz.^[12] Behar called off the engagement three months later^[13] because she wanted people to stop talking about it. On August 11, 2011, Behar married Janowitz.^[14]

Behar holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Queens College (class of 1964), and a Master of Arts degree in English education from the State University of New York at Stony Brook (class of 1966). She taught English in the late 1960s and early 1970s at Lindenhurst High School on Long Island, New York. She has identified herself as agnostic.^[15] She resides in Manhattan. Behar became a grandmother on February 28, 2011 when her daughter had a son, Luca.^[16] Behar is a member of the Delta Zeta sorority.^[17]

Filmography[link]

• Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) ... Eunice (post-production)
• Hall Pass (2011) ... Dr. Lucy
• Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2001) ... 42 (1 episode)
• Love Is All There Is (1996) ... Mary
• Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist (1996) ... Joy (2 episode)
• 'M' Word (1996) ... Carol
• Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993) ... Marilyn
• This Is My Life (1992) ... Rudy
• It's Gary Shandling's Show (1989–1990) ... Joy Mull/Joy Smith
• Baby Boom (1988–1989) ... Helga Von Haput (13 episodes)
• Cookie (film) (1989) ... Dottie
• Hiding Out (1987) ... Gertrude

Awards and nominations[link]

GLAAD Media Award

• 2010 Excellence in Media Award

Daytime Emmy Award

• 1998 Nomination for Outstanding Talk Show (The View)
• 1999 Nomination for Outstanding Talk Show (The View)
• 2000 Nomination for Outstanding Talk Show (The View)
• 2001 Nomination for Outstanding Talk Show (The View)
• 2002 Nomination for Outstanding Talk Show (The View)
• 2003 Nomination for Outstanding Talk Show (The View)
• 2003 Award for Best Talk Show (The View)
• 2004 Nomination for Outstanding Talk Show (The View)
• 2005 Nomination for Outstanding Talk Show (The View)
• 2006 Nomination for Outstanding Talk Show (The View)
• 2007 Nomination for Outstanding Talk Show (The View)
• 2008 Nomination for Outstanding Talk Show (The View)
• 2009 Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host(s) (The View)
• 2010 Nomination for Outstanding Talk Show Host(s) (The View)

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Rozen, Leah (July 9, 2010). "After Work With Joy Behar:Stand Up; Sit Down; Talk, Talk, Talk". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/fashion/11WITH.html. 
• Mitchell, Russ (March 28, 2010). "Joy Behar: Left Front Center". CBS News. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/03/28/sunday/main6341367.shtml. 

External links[link]

• Joy Behar at the Internet Movie Database
• Joy Behar at AllRovi
• The Joy Behar Show
• The View Official Profile

Bryant Gumbel
Gumbel in 2008
Born	Bryant Charles Gumbel (1948-09-29) September 29, 1948 (age 63) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Occupation	Television personality, sportscaster
Years active	1972–present
Notable credit(s)	The Today Show The Early Show
Spouse	June Baranco (1973–2001) Hilary Quinlan (2002–present)
Children	2

Bryant Charles Gumbel (born September 29, 1948) is an American television journalist and sportscaster. He is best known for his 15 years as co-host of NBC's The Today Show. He is the younger brother of sportscaster Greg Gumbel.

Life and career[link]

Early life[link]

Gumbel was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the son of Rhea Alice (née LeCesne), a city clerk, and Richard Dunbar Gumbel, a judge.^[1] He graduated from Bates College in 1970. Gumbel began his television career in October 1972, when he was made a sportscaster for KNBC-TV out of Los Angeles.

Professional career[link]

NBC Sports[link]

Gumbel was hired by NBC Sports in the fall of 1975 as co-host of its National Football League pre-game show GrandStand with Jack Buck. From 1975 until January 1982 (when he left to do The Today Show) Gumbel hosted numerous sporting events for NBC including Major League Baseball, college basketball and the National Football League. Gumbel returned to sportscasting for NBC when he hosted the prime time coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics from Seoul and the PGA Tour in 1990.

One of Gumbel's more memorable moments during his time at NBC Sports occurred in 1982, when he was on-site for the "Epic in Miami" NFL playoff game between the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins. At the end of the game, Gumbel told the viewing audience "If you didn't like this football game then you don't like football!"

[edit] Today

Gumbel began his affiliation with Today as the program's chief sports reporter contributing twice-weekly features to the program, including a regular series entitled "Sportsman of the Week," featuring up-and-coming athletes. In June 1981, NBC announced that Tom Brokaw would depart Today to anchor the NBC Nightly News with Roger Mudd beginning in the spring of 1982. The search for Brokaw's replacement was on, and the initial candidates were all NBC News correspondents, including John Palmer, Chris Wallace, Bob Kur, Bob Jamieson, and Jessica Savitch. The candidates auditioned for Brokaw's job throughout the summer of 1981 when Brokaw was on vacation. Gumbel became a candidate for the job just by chance when he served as a last-minute substitute for Today co-anchor Jane Pauley in August 1981. Gumbel so impressed executive producer Steve Friedman and other NBC executives that he quickly became a top contender for the Today anchor position.^{[citation needed]}

While Friedman and other NBC executives favored Gumbel as Brokaw's replacement, another contingent within the NBC News division felt strongly that Brokaw should be replaced by a fellow news correspondent, not a sports reporter. Chris Wallace was the favored candidate of then-NBC News president Bill Small. NBC News decided to split the difference, selecting Gumbel as the program's anchor and Wallace as the Washington-based anchor. Jane Pauley would remain co-anchor in New York. Brokaw signed off of Today on December 18, 1981, and Gumbel replaced Brokaw on January 4, 1982.

The Gumbel-Pauley-Wallace arrangement, known internally as the "Mod Squad," lasted only nine months. It was an arrangement that proved intriguing on paper but unwieldy on television. Gumbel served as the show's traffic cop, opening and closing the program and conducting New York-based interviews, but Pauley and Wallace handled newsreading duties, and Wallace conducted all Washington-based hard news interviews. With ABC's Good Morning America in first place and expanding its lead, NBC News made Gumbel the principal anchor of Today beginning September 27, 1982, with Jane Pauley as his co-anchor. Wallace became chief White House correspondent covering President Reagan, and John Palmer, previously a White House correspondent, became Today's New York-based news anchor.

Gumbel and Pauley had a challenging first two years together as Today anchors as they sought to find a rhythm as a team. Good Morning America solidified its lead over Today in the ratings during the summer of 1983, and Pauley's departure for maternity leave sent Today into a ratings tailspin. But when Pauley returned in February 1984, she and Gumbel began to work well together as a team. NBC took Today on the road in the fall of '84, sending Gumbel to the Soviet Union for an unprecedented series of live broadcasts from Moscow. Gumbel won plaudits for his performance in Moscow, erasing any doubts about his hard-news capabilities. That Moscow trip began a whirlwind period of travel for Today. Remote broadcasts from Vietnam, Vatican City, Europe, South America, and much of the United States followed between 1984 and 1989. Today began to regain its old ratings dominance against Good Morning America throughout 1985, and by early 1986, the NBC program was once again atop the ratings.

In 1989, Gumbel, who was already known for his strong management style as Today anchor, wrote a memo to Today executive producer Marty Ryan, on Ryan's request, critiquing the program and identifying its shortcomings. Many of Gumbel's criticisms were directed at fellow Today staffers. This memo was leaked to the press. In the memo, Gumbel commented that Willard Scott, "holds the show hostage to his assortment of whims, wishes, birthdays and bad taste...This guy is killing us and no one's even trying to rein him in". He commented that Gene Shalit's movie reviews "are often late and his interviews aren't very good."^[2]

There was enough negative backlash in regard to Gumbel's comments toward Scott, that Gumbel was shown making up with Scott on Today.^[3]

Following Jane Pauley's departure from Today in December 1989, Gumbel was joined by Deborah Norville in a short-lived partnership that lasted just over a year. Today dropped to second place in the ratings during this period as a result of intensely negative publicity surrounding Norville's replacement of Pauley, and Gumbel's feud with Scott. Norville was replaced by Katie Couric in April 1991, and the Gumbel-Couric team helped refocus Today as the morning news program on public affairs during the 1992 presidential campaign. The program returned to first place in the ratings in December 1995.

Gumbel's work on Today earned him several Emmys and a large group of fans. He is the second longest serving co-host of Today, serving 2 months less than Couric. Gumbel stepped down from the show on January 3, 1997 after 15 years.

[edit] The Early Show

After leaving the Today Show and Dateline NBC in 1997, Gumbel moved to CBS, where he hosted various shows before becoming co-host of the network's morning show The Early Show on November 1, 1999. Gumbel left The Early Show (and CBS that same year) in May 2002. He returned to his morning television roots when, in the spring and summer of 2010, he served as special guest moderator of ABC's "The View" for multiple days.

Boy Scouts[link]

A CBS camera caught a disgusted Bryant Gumbel blurting out "What a fucking idiot" just after he had finished a hostile interview with Robert Knight of the Family Research Council (FRC). The incident occurred at about 7:15 a.m. ET on Thursday, June 29, 2000 following Knight's appearance to defend the Boy Scout policy of excluding gays from being leaders. The Media Research Center reported that he uttered those words; Gumbel openly admitted to saying so when guest-hosting a June 2007 episode of Live with Regis and Kelly.^[4]

[edit] Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel

Gumbel has concentrated most of his energy recently on his duties as host of HBO's acclaimed investigative series Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (a show that he has hosted since 1995). HBO's web page claims that Real Sports has been described as "flat out TV's best sports program" by the Los Angeles Times.^[5] Also according to HBO, Real Sports has earned 15 sports Emmys, and a 2006 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for broadcast journalism, the first time in the award's history that it was given to a sports program.^[6] The award was for a story called "The Sport of Sheikhs", an investigation into the exploitation of children as camel jockeys in the United Arab Emirates.

Controversial remarks[link]

In February 2006, Gumbel made remarks regarding the Winter Olympics and the lack of African-American participation.^[7]

On the August 15, 2006 episode of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, Gumbel made the following remarks about former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue and Players' Union president Gene Upshaw and directed these comments to new commissioner Roger Goodell:

In response, Tagliabue said:

Gumbel's response was:

On the October 18, 2011 episode, Gumbel evoked slavery in his criticism of NBA Commissioner David Stern over the league's lockout.^[9]

[edit] The Weather Man

Gumbel made a cameo appearance alongside Nicolas Cage and Michael Caine in The Weather Man, a film directed by Gore Verbinski. In the film, Gumbel co-hosts a morning show entitled Hello America for which Cage's character, a depressed weatherman, auditions.

The NFL Network[link]

In April 2006, the NFL Network announced that Gumbel, along with Cris Collinsworth and Dick Vermeil, would commentate on its new package of NFL games. Unlike his brother Greg, Bryant had never called play-by-play^[10][11] for live sporting events in his career. Before his first game commentary for the network, Gumbel's status was brought into question after he stirred up controversy in his closing remarks on his HBO program on August 15, 2006, in which he criticized NFL Players Association head Gene Upshaw and outgoing NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue. Gumbel would later reconcile with the NFL and retained his play-by-play job with the NFL Network.^[12] On December 29, 2007, Gumbel had a reunion of sorts as he called the Patriots-Giants game on the NFL Network, CBS, and NBC. This is the first 3-network simulcast NFL game and coincidentally Gumbel has worked for all three networks during his career. He also had a strong affiliation with NFL films.

Gumbel was fired as play-by-play announcer in April 2008, prior to the 2008 NFL season. He would be replaced on the NFL Network telecasts by Bob Papa.

Personal life[link]

In October 2009, Bryant Gumbel had surgery to remove a malignant tumor near his lung.^[13]

Awards[link]

• 4 Emmy Awards (Likely for his play-by-play on the NFL Network)^[14]
• Frederick D. Patterson Award from the United Negro College Fund^[14]
• Martin Luther King Award from the Congress of Racial Equality^[14]
• Three NAACP Image Awards^[14]
• Edward R. Murrow Award for Outstanding Foreign Affairs work from the Overseas Press Club, September 1984
• Edward Weintal Prize for diplomatic reporting
• Peabody Award for his reporting in Vietnam
• International Journalism Award from TransAfrica
• Africa's Future Award from the U.S. Committee for UNICEF
• Leadership Award from the African-American Institute
• Best Morning TV News Interviewer, the Washington Journal Review, 1986
• Trumpet Award of the Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
• Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for outstanding broadcast journalism for Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (HBO), December 2005^[6]
• Clinton Award [1]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Bryant Gumbel

• "Is Bryant Gumbel a Racist?" - Howard Bloom's Sports Business News.com SBN's look at Bryant Gumbel
• -the tiger woods of TV

Tom Brokaw
Brokaw in 2007
Born	Thomas John Brokaw (1940-02-06) February 6, 1940 (age 72) Webster, South Dakota, U.S.
Education	Degree in politics and journalism from University of South Dakota
Occupation	Television journalist, author
Years active	1966–present
Notable credit(s)	Today co-anchor (1976–1981) NBC Nightly News anchor (1982–2004) NBC News Special Correspondent (2004–present) Meet the Press moderator (2008)[1]
Spouse	Meredith Lynn Auld (1962–present)
Children	Jennifer Jean Andrea Simon Sara Auld

Thomas John "Tom" Brokaw (/ˈbroʊkɔː/; born February 6, 1940) is an American television journalist and author best known as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News from 1982 to 2004. He is the author of The Greatest Generation (1998) and other books and the recipient of numerous awards and honors. He is the only person to host all three major NBC News programs: The Today Show, NBC Nightly News, and, briefly, Meet the Press. He now serves as a Special Correspondent for NBC News and works on documentaries for other outlets.

Early life[link]

Tom Brokaw (left) greeting the 20,000th visitor to the Gavins Point Dam in 1958. Brokaw was a tour guide there.

Brokaw was born in Webster, South Dakota, the son of Eugenia "Jean" (born Conley), who worked in sales and as a post-office clerk, and Anthony Orville "Red" Brokaw.^[2] He was the eldest of their three sons and was named after his maternal great-grandfather, Thomas Conley. His father was a descendant of Huguenot immigrants Bourgon and Catherine (le Fèvre) Broucard, and his mother was Irish-American.^[3] His paternal great-grandfather, Richard P. Brokaw, founded the town of Bristol, South Dakota, and the Brokaw House, a small hotel and the first structure in Bristol.^[4]

Brokaw's father was a construction foreman for the Army Corps of Engineers. He worked at the Black Hills Ordnance Depot (BHOD) and helped construct Fort Randall Dam; his job often required the family to resettle during Brokaw's early childhood.^[5] The Brokaws lived for short periods in Bristol, Igloo (the small residential community of the BHOD), and Pickstown, before settling in Yankton, where Brokaw attended high school.^[3][5]

As a high school student attending Yankton Senior High School,^[6] Brokaw was governor of South Dakota American Legion Boys State, and in that capacity he accompanied then South Dakota Governor Joe Foss to New York City for a joint appearance on a TV game show. It was to be the beginning of a long relationship with Foss, whom Brokaw would later feature in his book about World War II veterans, The Greatest Generation.

Tom Brokaw dropped out of The University of Iowa, where he says he majored in "beer and co-eds" before receiving his B.A. degree in Political Science from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion in 1964.^[6]

Broadcasting career[link]

Early years[link]

Brokaw's television career began at KTIV in Sioux City, Iowa, followed by stints at KMTV in Omaha, Nebraska^[7] and WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1966, he joined NBC News, reporting from California and anchoring the 11 p.m. news for KNBC-TV in Los Angeles. In 1973, NBC made Brokaw White House correspondent, covering the Watergate scandal, and anchor of the Saturday editions of Nightly News. He became host of NBC's Today Show in 1976 and remained in the job until 1982.

[edit] Nightly News

Brokaw preparing for a live broadcast in the aftermath of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

On April 5, 1982, Brokaw began co-anchoring NBC Nightly News from New York with Roger Mudd in Washington. After a year, NBC News president Reuven Frank concluded that the dual-anchor program was not working and selected Brokaw to be sole anchor.^[8] The NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw commenced on September 5, 1983.

Among other news items, he covered the Challenger disaster, EDSA Revolution, Loma Prieta earthquake, fall of the Berlin Wall and Hurricane Andrew.