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==Early life==
==Early life==


Williams was born with a mustache. He was raised in a middle class Irish Catholic home. In his childhood his family moved from his birth place, [[Ridgewood, NJ]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3080472/|title=Brian Williams - Meet the faces of MSNBC|work=MSNBC Interactive|publisher=[[MSNBC]]|date=March 18, 2003|accessdate=2008-11-06}}</ref>, to [[Elmira, New York]]. He lived in Elmira for ten years, before moving to [[Middletown, New Jersey]].
Williams was was raised in a middle class Irish Catholic home. In his childhood his family moved from his birth place, [[Ridgewood, NJ]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3080472/|title=Brian Williams - Meet the faces of MSNBC|work=MSNBC Interactive|publisher=[[MSNBC]]|date=March 18, 2003|accessdate=2008-11-06}}</ref>, to [[Elmira, New York]]. He lived in Elmira for ten years, before moving to [[Middletown, New Jersey]].


He graduated from [[Mater Dei High School (New Jersey)|Mater Dei High School]], a [[Roman Catholic]] high school in the New Monmouth section of Middletown.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nopactalent.com/speakers/Brian-Williams/1043|title=Brian Williams|publisher=NOPAC Talent|accessdate=October 14, 2007|quote=Graduated from Mater Dei, a Roman Catholic High School in New Monmouth, NJ.}}</ref> While in high school, he was a volunteer [[firefighter]] for three years at the Middletown Township ([[New Jersey]]) Fire Department. His first job was as a busboy at Perkins Pancake House.<ref>The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Friday 5/22/09</ref>
He graduated from [[Mater Dei High School (New Jersey)|Mater Dei High School]], a [[Roman Catholic]] high school in the New Monmouth section of Middletown.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nopactalent.com/speakers/Brian-Williams/1043|title=Brian Williams|publisher=NOPAC Talent|accessdate=October 14, 2007|quote=Graduated from Mater Dei, a Roman Catholic High School in New Monmouth, NJ.}}</ref> While in high school, he was a volunteer [[firefighter]] for three years at the Middletown Township ([[New Jersey]]) Fire Department. His first job was as a busboy at Perkins Pancake House.<ref>The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Friday 5/22/09</ref>

Revision as of 02:55, 8 July 2010

For other people named Brian Williams, see Brian Williams (disambiguation).
Brian Williams
Williams at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival
Born
Brian Douglas Williams

(1959-05-05) May 5, 1959 (age 65)
Elmira, New York, United States
StatusMarried
Other namesBriwi
Occupation(s)News Anchor and Managing Editor of NBC Nightly News
Years active1981 – present
Notable credit(s)NBC News reporter
(1993–present)
NBC Nightly News anchor (2004–present)
SpouseJane Stoddard Williams[1]
Websitehttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3667173/

Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is the American 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,[3] and in 2010, a prominent media observer dubbed him "the Walter Cronkite of the 21st century."[4] He lives in New Canaan, Connecticut, with his wife, Jane Stoddard Williams, one of their two children (Doug Williams), and two dogs.

Early life

Williams was was raised in a middle class Irish Catholic home. In his childhood his family moved from his birth place, Ridgewood, NJ[5], to Elmira, New York. He lived in Elmira for ten years, before moving to Middletown, New Jersey.

He graduated from Mater Dei High School, a Roman Catholic high school in the New Monmouth section of Middletown.[6] While in high school, he was a volunteer firefighter for three years at the Middletown Township (New Jersey) Fire Department. His first job was as a busboy at Perkins Pancake House.[7]

After high school, he attended Brookdale Community College, before transferring to George Washington University, and then to The Catholic University of America.[8] 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."[9]

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. A year later he moved back to Washington, D.C. and worked at WTTG-TV as general assignment reporter. Williams joined NBC News from WCBS 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.

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 Tom Brokaw's) with his coverage of the tsunami,[10] and his reporting on Katrina, including from inside the New Orleans Superdome, was singled out for praise by industry observers.[11] His work helped earn NBC a Peabody Award,[12] the Peabody committee concluding that Williams and the Nightly News staff "exemplified the highest levels of journalistic excellence in reporting on Hurricane Katrina."[13]

Nightly News was the ratings leader among the network evening news programs when Williams became anchor, and it maintained that position until falling slightly behind ABC's World News in the first half of 2007. Nightly News regained the lead later in the year[14] and expanded it beginning in the fall of 2008.[15] By 2010, Williams was viewed as the country's leading news anchor and drawing comparisons to Walter Cronkite.[16]

When Williams succeeded Tom Brokaw as anchor of NBC Nightly News, his annual salary was reported to be $8 million,[17] and by October 2006, it had reportedly increased to $10 million.[2]

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. He has also appeared on NBC's 30 Rock.

Brian also 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.

Career timeline

References

  1. ^ a b Brian Williams - Nightly News with Brian Williams - MSNBC.com
  2. ^ a b Movie & TV News @ IMDb.com - Studio Briefing - October 23, 2006
  3. ^ Brian Williams - The TIME 100 - TIME
  4. ^ Jon Friedman, "Brian Williams: a Cronkite for the 21st century", MarketWatch, June 2, 2010.
  5. ^ "Brian Williams - Meet the faces of MSNBC". MSNBC Interactive. MSNBC. March 18, 2003. Retrieved 2008-11-06.
  6. ^ "Brian Williams". NOPAC Talent. Retrieved October 14, 2007. Graduated from Mater Dei, a Roman Catholic High School in New Monmouth, NJ.
  7. ^ The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Friday 5/22/09
  8. ^ Strauss, Robert (October 27, 2002). "IN PERSON; The Life Of Brian, Annotated". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-10-14.
  9. ^ "Remarks by Brian Williams. Tulane University Commencement". May 19, 2007.
  10. ^ Howard Kurtz, "NBC's Brian Williams, On Top of the News", Washington Post, Dec. 5, 2005.
  11. ^ Bill Carter, "Storm and Crisis: The News Anchor; Career-Maker For Williams As the Anchor At NBC", New York Times, Sept. 4, 2005.
  12. ^ Brian Stelter, "A Year Later: TVNewsers On Katrina", mediabistro.com, Aug. 31, 2006.
  13. ^ Peabody Awards, Coverage of Hurricane Katrina 2005, Organization: NBC News.
  14. ^ "Evening News Ratings: Williams Tops Gibson In November Sweeps", New York Times, Dec. 4, 2007.
  15. ^ "A Matrix of News Winners Buoys NBC", New York Times, March 8, 2009.
  16. ^ Jon Friedman, "Brian Williams: a Cronkite for the 21st century", MarketWatch, June 2, 2010.
  17. ^ "Biography for Brian Williams (III)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-12-11.

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