Brian Williams

Infobox journalist
name = Brian Williams


caption = Williams at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival
birthname =
birth_date = birth date and age|1959|05|05
birth_place = Elmira, New York
Homestead = New Canaan, Connecticut
age =
death_date =
death_place =
education =
occupation = News Anchor and Managing Editor of NBC Nightly News
alias =
gender = Male
status = Married
title =
family =
spouse = Jane Stoddard Williams [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3667173/ Brian Williams - Nightly News with Brian Williams - MSNBC.com ] ] |
relatives =
ethnic = Irish
religion = Roman Catholicism
salary = $10 million [ [http://www.imdb.com/news/sb/2006-10-23#tv3 Movie & TV News @ IMDb.com - Studio Briefing - 23 October 2006 ] ]
networth =
credits = NBC News reporter
(1993–present)
"NBC Nightly News" anchor (2004–present)
agent =
URL = http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3667173/

Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is the seventh anchor and managing editor [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3667173/ Brian Williams - Nightly News with Brian Williams - MSNBC.com ] ] of "NBC Nightly News", the flagship evening news program of the NBC television network. Williams replaced Tom Brokaw on December 2, 2004. Previously, Williams was the network's chief White House correspondent and host of "The News with Brian Williams" on CNBC and MSNBC. In 2007, Williams was listed among "Time Magazine's" 100 Most Influential People in The World [ [http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/time100/article/0,28804,1595326_1595332_1616821,00.html Brian Williams - The TIME 100 - TIME ] ] . He lives in New Canaan, Connecticut, with his wife, Jane Stoddard Williams, one of their two children, and two dogs.

Biography

Early life

Williams was raised in a middle class Irish Catholic home. In his childhood his family moved from his birth place, Elmira, New York, to Middletown, New Jersey. He graduated from Mater Dei High School, a Roman Catholic high school in the New Monmouth section of Middletown. [ [http://www.nopactalent.com/speakers/Brian-Williams/1043 Brian Williams] , NOPAC Talent. Accessed October 14, 2007. "Graduated from Mater Dei, a Roman Catholic High School in New Monmouth, NJ."] While in high school, he was a volunteer firefighter for three years at the Middletown Township (New Jersey) Fire Department. After high school, he attended Brookdale Community College, before transferring to George Washington University, and then to The Catholic University of America. [Strauss, Robert. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9905E1DA153CF934A15753C1A9649C8B63 "IN PERSON; The Life Of Brian, Annotated"] , "The New York Times", October 27, 2002. Accessed October 14, 2007.] 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." In 2004, he returned to The Catholic University of America and gave the commencement address, received an honorary doctorate as he delivered the keynote address at Providence College's May 19, 2002 commencement, and in 2008 received an honorary Doctor of Journalism degree from Ohio State University.

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 correspondent. He replaced Maury Povich as host of locally produced Washington, D.C. chat show "Panorama" in 1985.

In 1985, Williams was hired by CBS and worked as New Jersey correspondent for its Philadelphia affiliate, WCAU-TV. In 1987, Williams was promoted to WCBS-TV in New York, where he soon began anchoring its noon news. He won his first Emmy for his reporting of the October 1987 stock market collapse. In 1993, Williams was hired by NBC News to anchor the weekend editions of Nightly News, and in 1994 became the network's chief White House correspondent. In 1996, he began an eight-year run as lead anchor of "The News with Brian Williams" on MSNBC and CNBC. Then in 2004, he succeeded Tom Brokaw in his current role as the anchor of NBC News’s flagship program Nightly News.

alary history

:2004 - In December 2004, Williams succeeded Tom Brokaw as anchor of "NBC Nightly News". His yearly salary is reported to be $8,000,000. cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1047419/bio |title=Biography for Brian Williams (III) |accessdate=2007-12-11 |work=Internet Movie Database ]

:2006 - In October 2006, Williams' yearly salary was reportedly not less than $10,000,000, according to NBC News President Steve Capus, then chief of NBC News. [ [http://www.imdb.com/news/sb/2006-10-23#tv3 Movie & TV News @ IMDb.com - Studio Briefing - 23 October 2006 ] ]

Appearances

He frequently appears on "The Daily Show" as a celebrity guest interviewed by Jon Stewart. A running gag involving his head being projected on a screen behind Stewart was used several times after "The Daily Show" moved to a new set in April 2007. He also appears often on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien".

He also appeared on "Saturday Night Live" on September 30, 2006 to co-anchor the "Weekend Update" segment with Amy Poehler, but is told by Poehler that Seth Meyers will be co-anchoring the segment. On August 26,2007 he appeared live with Poehler and Meyers as guest monologist at ASSSSCAT 3000, a weekly show at the "Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre" hosted by the Upright Citizens Brigade, of which Poehler is a founder.

Williams hosted the November 3, 2007 episode of "Saturday Night Live", making him the first national news anchor to host the show. He hosted after a hectic week of moderating the Democratic presidential debate at Drexel University. After moderating the debate which ended at 11PM, he took a ride back to New York to rehearse the show until 6AM Wednesday. cite web|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ia9c51f5ef29150aa8ae6174de493395d |title=Williams still on desk at 'SNL' |accessdate=2007-12-11 |last=Gough |first=Paul J. |work=The Hollywood Reporter ] On "SNL", he offered a monologue where he poked fun at himself being unable to break out of the anchor mode, and played the roles of a NYC fireman on a local talk show speaking about fire safety, an actor who just discovered he lost his job as he is playing his final role, an unenthusiastic winner of 15 million dollars, the debate moderator who confirms that the "media" has already chosen Hillary Clinton as its winner, and as himself preparing a new James Bond-like intro to "NBC Nightly News".

At the 2007 Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner, Williams was pulled up on stage by improv comedians Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood and made sound effects as the two comedians performed a skit.

In 2007, he agreed to participate in an award and broadcast by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society for citizen awards. The Above & Beyond Citizen Honors will be broadcast in March 2008. cite web|url=http://news.findlaw.com/prnewswire/20071010/10oct20071519.html |title=The Congressional Medal of Honor Society Announces Above & Beyond Citizen Honors |accessdate=2007-12-13 |work=Findlaw-PR Newswire ]

On May 19, 2007, Williams delivered the keynote speech at the New Orleans Arena for the Tulane University Class of 2007 Commencement. He previously was awarded the university's highest award, the Tulane President's Medal, on May 31, 2006.

Williams received an honorary Doctorate degree in Journalism and served as the keynote speaker at the Spring Commencement at The Ohio State University on June 8th, 2008.

On June 18, 2008, Williams gave a eulogy at Tim Russert's memorial at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He ended his speech by saying "our maker" has brought Russert back home.

Along with Bob Costas, he supports the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation where he is a honorary board member. [ [http://www.multiplemyeloma.org/foundation/1.05.php] ]

Notable coverage

*TWA Flight 800
*Death of Diana, Princess of Wales
*Overthrow of the King of Nepal
*2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami
*Hurricane Katrina (Was the only network news anchor to be in the region when the storm hit; stuck out the hurricane inside the Louisiana Superdome)
*Death of Pope John Paul II
*2006 Winter Olympics
*Virginia Tech massacre
*I-35W bridge collapse
*Mainland China earthquake
*Attack on Syrian nuclear facilities
*Surge in Iraq
*2008 United States Presidential Election
*The death of NBC Washington Bureau Chief and "Meet the Press" moderator Tim Russert.
*2008 Summer Olympics

Career timeline

*1981: KOAM-TV
*1982–1984: WTTG-TV correspondent
*1985: Panoroma Host
*1985–1987: WCAU-TV New Jersey correspondent
*1987–1993: WCBS-TV Noon anchor
*1993–1994: NBC News correspondent
*1994–1996: NBC News White House correspondent
*1996-2004: "The News with Brian Williams" anchor
*2004–present: "NBC Nightly News" anchor

References

External links

* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3667173/ NBC News Bio]
* [http://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/ The Daily Nightly] - Brian Williams's blog
* [http://www.newyorkbusiness-risingstars.com/searched_profile.php?id=1049 Bio and photo of Brian Williams — Crain's New York Business 40 under 40 — 1998]
* [http://www.sajaforum.org/2006/07/video_of_brian_.html Video of talk to journalists group] - from SAJAforum.org
* [http://www.mensvogue.com/business/media/articles/2007/02/brian_williams Men's Vogue profile of Brian Williams]
* [http://message.alturl.com Public Testament for Great Journalists: Brian Williams is a worthy, 'Meet the Press' successor]