Brian Williams

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For other people named Brian Williams, see Brian Williams (disambiguation).
Brian Williams

Williams at the 2011 Time 100 gala
Born Brian Douglas Williams
May 5, 1959 (1959-05-05) (age 52)
Ridgewood, New Jersey, U.S.
Education Brookdale Community College
George Washington University
The Catholic University of America
Occupation News Anchor and Managing Editor of NBC Nightly News
Spouse(s) Jane Stoddard Williams[1]
Years active 1981–present
Notable credit(s) NBC News reporter
(1993–2004)
NBC Nightly News weekend anchor (1993–1999)
NBC Nightly News anchor (2004–present)
Official website

Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, the evening news program of the NBC television network, a position he assumed in 2004.[1] Williams was listed among Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2007,[2] and in 2010, a prominent media observer dubbed him "the Walter Cronkite of the 21st century."[3]

Contents

[edit] Early life

Williams was reared in a middle-class Irish Catholic home.[4] In his childhood his family moved from his birthplace, Ridgewood, New Jersey,[5] to Elmira, New York. He lived in Elmira for ten years, before moving to Middletown, New Jersey, when he was in junior high school.[6]

He was graduated from Mater Dei High School, a Roman Catholic high school in the New Monmouth, section of Middletown.[7] While in high school, he was a volunteer firefighter for three years at the Middletown Township Fire Department. His first job was as a busboy at Perkins Pancake House.[8]

After high school, Wiliams attended Brookdale Community College, before transferring to George Washington University, and then [The Catholic University of America]].[9] He did not graduate, instead taking an internship with the administration of President Jimmy Carter. He now calls leaving college one of his "great regrets".[10] Brian Williams completed a total of 18 college credits."[11]

[edit] Early career

After working in the lobbying arm of the National Association of Broadcasters, Williams began his broadcasting career at KOAM-TV in Pittsburg, Kansas in 1981.[12] A year later he moved back to Washington, D.C. and worked at WTTG as general assignment reporter. Williams joined NBC News from WCBS-TV in New York in 1993 and became the network's chief White House correspondent in 1994. In 1996, Williams began anchoring The News with Brian Williams on MSNBC and rebroadcast on CNBC.

[edit] Nightly News

Williams became anchor of NBC Nightly News on December 2, 2004, and his first year in that post was marked by coverage of two disasters: the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. NBC personnel felt that the program became his program (rather than predecessor Tom Brokaw's) with his coverage of the tsunami,[13] and his reporting on Katrina, including from inside the New Orleans Superdome, was singled out for praise by industry observers.[14] His work helped earn NBC a Peabody Award,[15] the Peabody committee concluding that Williams and the Nightly News staff "exemplified the highest levels of journalistic excellence in reporting on Hurricane Katrina."[16]

Nightly News was the ratings leader among the network evening news programs when Williams became anchor,[citation needed] and it maintained that position until falling behind ABC's World News in the first half of 2007. Nightly News regained the lead later in the year[17] and expanded it beginning in the fall of 2008.[18] By 2010, Williams was compared by some to Walter Cronkite.[3]

When Williams succeeded Tom Brokaw as anchor of NBC Nightly News, his annual salary was reported to be $8 million,[19] and by October 2006, it had reportedly increased to $10 million.[20] He occasionally fills in for Lester Holt on weekends when needed.

On Sunday, May 1, 2011, Williams anchored a simulcast between all NBC affiliates and MSNBC covering the death of Osama bin Laden, going on air before 11:30 pm and continuing coverage until at least 2:00 am.

[edit] Rock Center with Brian Williams

Main article: Rock Center with Brian Williams

On Tuesday, October 4, 2011, it was announced that Williams would be the host of Rock Center with Brian Williams, a newsmagazine program premiering on Monday, October 31, 2011, at 10:00 pm Eastern, replacing the cancelled drama series The Playboy Club.[21] Named after the nickname of Rockefeller Center, the New York City landmark where NBC Radio City Studios are located, the program would become the first new NBC News program to launch in primetime in nearly two decades.[22]

[edit] Appearances

Williams frequently appears on The Daily Show as a celebrity guest interviewed by Jon Stewart. He appeared on the Weekend Update segment of Saturday Night Live before hosting the program on November 3, 2007.[23]

Brian regularly appears on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, where he slow jams the news of the previous week as Fallon sings and reiterates what Brian says, with The Roots providing the musical backing. He has also made numerous appearances on Late Show with David Letterman despite its being on CBS, a competing network. During an appearance on July 26, 2011, Williams demonstrated a skilled vocal impersonation of TV personality Regis Philbin. Williams has also appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien where he took part in numerous skits and interviews.

Brian also frequently makes guest appearances on NBC's television comedy 30 Rock as a caricatured version of himself. In the episode The Ones, he's seen at home receiving proposition calls meant for Tracy Jordan. In Audition Day, he auditions to be a new TGS cast member. He also is seen once on the show taunting a CNBC news host.

[edit] Personal life

He lives in New Canaan, Connecticut, with his wife, Jane Stoddard Williams, two children, Allison and Brandon Williams, and two dogs.[24]

[edit] NASCAR

Williams is an avid fan of NASCAR. He was first exposed to auto racing as a child attending races on dirt tracks all over upstatue New York. In 1999, Williams was the studio host of the first NASCAR race ever shown on NBC, the Pennzoil 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Two years later, at NASCAR's awards banquet in New York City, he introduced a videotaped tribute to Dale Earnhardt, who had died at the Daytona 500 some months earlier. Earnhardt and Williams had become close friends.

[edit] Career timeline

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Brian Williams - Nightly News with Brian Williams - MSNBC.com
  2. ^ Brian Williams - The TIME 100 - TIME
  3. ^ a b Jon Friedman, "Brian Williams: a Cronkite for the 21st century", MarketWatch, June 2, 2010.
  4. ^ Albiniak, Page (2009-11-01). "Questions for Brian Williams". New York Post. http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/questions_for_brian_williams_qd8HkSI84X6IZijazkH3wL. Retrieved 2010-10-07. "I come from a loud Irish-Catholic family." 
  5. ^ "Brian Williams - Meet the faces of MSNBC". MSNBC Interactive. MSNBC. March 18, 2003. Archived from the original on February 16, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080216081630/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3080472/. Retrieved 2008-11-06. 
  6. ^ Strauss, Robert. "IN PERSON; The Life Of Brian, Annotated", The New York Times, October 27, 2002. Accessed June 13, 2011. "Mr. Williams grew up in Mom-apple-pie-and-TV-trays style in Middletown, Monmouth County, a town of true middle class.... Mr. Williams, who was in junior high when the family moved there from Elmira, N.Y., was an average student who had his eyes on fast cars, fun summer jobs and hanging out at the local fire station, where he became a volunteer firefighter."
  7. ^ "Brian Williams". NOPAC Talent. http://www.nopactalent.com/speakers/Brian-Williams/1043. Retrieved October 14, 2007. "Graduated from Mater Dei, a Roman Catholic High School in New Monmouth, NJ." 
  8. ^ The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Friday 5/22/09
  9. ^ Strauss, Robert (October 27, 2002). "IN PERSON; The Life Of Brian, Annotated". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9905E1DA153CF934A15753C1A9649C8B63. Retrieved 2007-10-14. 
  10. ^ "Remarks by Brian Williams. Tulane University Commencement". May 19, 2007. http://www.grads.tulane.edu/transcript_brianwilliams.html. 
  11. ^ Interview: Last Call with Carson Daly, NBC, May 20, 2011
  12. ^ "Brian Williams Takes Helm Of 'NBC Nightly News'". WESH Orlando. December 2, 2004. http://www.wesh.com/r/3965446/detail.html. Retrieved 1 September 2010. 
  13. ^ Howard Kurtz, "NBC's Brian Williams, On Top of the News", Washington Post, Dec. 5, 2005.
  14. ^ Bill Carter, "Storm and Crisis: The News Anchor; Career-Maker For Williams As the Anchor At NBC", New York Times, Sept. 4, 2005.
  15. ^ Brian Stelter, "A Year Later: TVNewsers On Katrina", mediabistro.com, Aug. 31, 2006.
  16. ^ Peabody Awards, Coverage of Hurricane Katrina 2005, Organization: NBC News.
  17. ^ "Evening News Ratings: Williams Tops Gibson In November Sweeps", New York Times, Dec. 4, 2007.
  18. ^ "A Matrix of News Winners Buoys NBC", New York Times, March 8, 2009.
  19. ^ "Biography for Brian Williams (III)". Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1047419/bio. Retrieved 2007-12-11. 
  20. ^ Movie & TV News @ IMDb.com - Studio Briefing - October 23, 2006
  21. ^ "NBC Cancels 'The Playboy Club'". The Hollywood Reporter. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/nbc-cancels-playboy-club-brian-williams-rock-center-241714. Retrieved 2011-10-04. 
  22. ^ "NBC cancels 'Playboy Club,' schedules 'Rock Center'". HitFix. http://www.hitfix.com/articles/nbc-cancels-playboy-club-schedules-rock-center. Retrieved 2011-10-04. 
  23. ^ "Brian Williams Hosts Saturday Night Live Tonight". WOAI. November 3, 2007. http://www.woai.com/news/local/story/Brian-Williams-Hosts-Saturday-Night-Live-Tonight/kIg9HROBPUCwfaTYZSN2mg.cspx. Retrieved 1 September 2010. 
  24. ^ "Brian Williams Biography-TV Guide". http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/brian-williams/bio/198488. 

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