Robin Leach

Robin Leach
Born	Robin Douglas Leach (1941-08-29) 29 August 1941 Harrow, Middlesex, England
Occupation(s)	television personality and show host, entertainment reporter, writer, and columnist
Years active	1982–present

Robin Douglas Leach (born 29 August 1941) is an English-born American entertainment celebrity reporter writer famous for hosting his first show, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, in the mid-1980s and into the mid-1990s, which focused on profiling well-known celebrities and their lavish homes, cars and other materialistic endeavors. His voice is often parodied by other actors with his signature phrase, "champagne wishes and caviar dreams." During the final season, he was assisted by Shari Belafonte, and the show was renamed, Lifestyles with Robin Leach and Shari Belafonte.

Early life

During grammar school at Harrow County School for Boys, 10 miles (16 km) from London, he edited a school magazine, The Gayton Times, at age 14. At age 15 he became a general news reporter for the Harrow Observer and started a monthly glossy town magazine at age 17.

Career

Leach moved on to the Daily Mail as Britain's youngest "Page One" reporter, at age 18. In 1963, he emigrated to America and wrote for a number of publications (New York Daily News, People, Ladies Home Journal etc.) before launching GO Magazine and then was show business editor of The Star.

Other television work includes reporting for People Tonight, on CNN and Entertainment Tonight and helping start Good Morning Australia, as well as the Food Network. Leach was also a guest at World Wrestling Entertainment's WrestleMania IV, where he read the rules for the championship tournament. In 1993, for the Fox network, Leach hosted an exposé documentary of Madonna titled "Madonna Xposed." The documentary was a biography of Madonna focusing on her career and publicity stunts. Before the documentary aired, he gave Madonna a cell phone number; he claimed that at any point during the airing Madonna could call Leach and argue any point. Madonna never called and the documentary continued without incident. He also hosted Lifestyles spinoff Fame, Fortune & Romance, along with future "Today Show" host Matt Lauer.

Leach hosted The Surreal Life: Fame Games on VH1 in 2007. He also served as the public address announcer for the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

As of 2008 he resides in Las Vegas and writes the daily VegasDeluxe.com Web site.

Leach appeared in the documentary film Maxed Out in 2006, which chronicled the rise of the credit card industry in the U.S. along with increased personal debt among working class people and criticized that industry's practices. Leach remarks, "Nobody would watch Lifestyles of the Poor and Unknown". The comment was highlighted by a review in the Baltimore Sun.

Other appearances

• He appeared as himself in Season 2 Episode 17 of Boy Meets World in 1995.
• He made a cameo appearance in Jermaine Dupri's video "Ballin' Out of Control" in 2001.
• He made an appearance on Penn and Teller: Bullshit! in Season 3 Episode 13, "The Best", in 2005.
• He appeared in "Shark Tank" Season 4 Episode 3 as spokesman for Rock Band Fashion, in 2012.
• He made a cameo appearance in an Old Navy commercial along with Nancy Kerrigan in 2012.

In popular culture

• He is mentioned in The Notorious B.I.G's "Juicy".
• In 1995, Lost Boyz debuted "Lifestyles Of The Rich & Shameless" single, a parody of the Rich and Famous motto.
• He is mentioned in Fergie and Ludacris' song "Glamorous", along with the Rich and Famous motto.
• He is mentioned in the songs "Grove Street Party Remix" and "Beat Without Bass" from Lil Wayne's mixtape,'Sorry For the Wait'. Wayne also mentions him in "Burn" on the mixtape, 'Dedication 4'.
• He is mentioned in the Jimmy Buffett song, "King of Somewhere Hot".
• He is mentioned in the Phil Keggy song "Ain't Got No".

External links

• Robin Leach at IMDb
• Robin Leach interview on the Vegas Video Network