Matt Lauer

Matt Lauer
Matt Lauer, April 4, 2009
Born	Matthew Todd Lauer December 30, 1957 (1957-12-30) (age 53) New York, New York, U.S.
Education	Ohio University
Occupation	Television journalist
Spouse(s)	Nancy Aspaugh (1982-1989; divorced) Annette Roque (1998-present)
Children	Three
Years active	1979–present
Notable credit(s)	Today co-anchor (1997–present) Today news anchor (1994–1997)
Official website

Matthew Todd "Matt" Lauer (born December 30, 1957)^[1] is an American television journalist best known as the host of NBC's The Today Show since 1997.^[1] He was previously a news anchor in New York^[2] and a local talk-show host in Boston, Philadelphia, Providence and Richmond.^[2] He was also host of PM Magazine (or "Evening Magazine" 1980-1986)^[2] and worked for ESPN in the 1980s as a sideline reporter.^[2] In the early 1990s, Lauer hosted segments of HBO Entertainment News.

Early life

He was born in New York, New York, the son of Marilyn Kolmer, a boutique owner, and Jay Robert Lauer, a bicycle-company executive. Lauer is of Romanian descent on his father's side, as seen on the Today Show's "Finding Our Roots."^[1][3][4] His parents divorced during his youth, and his father died in 1997. Lauer had become co-host of The Today Show replacing longtime host Bryant Gumbel in early 1997, not long before his father's death.^[5] In 1999, both Lauer and his co-host Katie Couric initially resisted participation in Today's proposed series about their family roots. The series turned out to be a hit, and Lauer was moved by what he learned about his immigrant ancestors. "My dad was Jewish. My mom is not. So I was not raised anything. I do feel a desire now to find something spiritual. Getting married and wanting to have kids has something to do with that."^[5][6]

Career

Lauer is a School of Media Arts and Studies (formally the School of Telecommunications) graduate of Ohio University. He attended Ivy Tech, but dropped out. In 1997, he received his undergraduate degree from Ohio University at the age of 39. He had dropped out of Ohio University's School of Telecommunications in the Spring of 1979.^[7] The university awarded him his remaining credits by counting his journalism experience as "independent study" towards his degree.^{[citation needed]} Lauer began his television career in 1979 as a producer of the 12 o'clock news for WOWK-TV in Huntington, West Virginia. By 1980, he had become an on-air reporter on the 6 and 11 o'clock newscasts. He then started to move around the country to further his career, hosting a number of weekly information and talk programs in Boston, Philadelphia, Providence and Richmond.^[2] He was also host of PM Magazine from 1980-1986^[2] and worked for ESPN in the 1980s. He worked on the show "Talk of the Town" during 1988.

Lauer got his first job in the New York area when he was hired to host a three-hour live interview program, WWOR-TV's 9 Broadcast Plaza, from 1989–1991. In 1990, he was hired by the Kushner-Locke Company to host a pilot called "Day In Court," executive produced by veteran producer David Sams, who helped to launch the Oprah Winfrey Show into national syndication. The program was retitled, "Trial Watch," when it went to series, and ran on the NBC network for two seasons. Ironically, NBC chose to hire Rob Weller, as host, over Lauer when the program was picked up as a daily series. Lauer moved to WNBC-TV in 1992 where he became co-anchor, alongside Jane Hanson, of the early weekday news show Today in New York. After a year, he also filled the role of Live at Five co-anchor with Sue Simmons. He held that job until 1996.

NBC News

Lauer with President Vladimir Putin prior to the 32nd G8 summit in Saint Petersburg.

Lauer's broad on-camera presence provided him with many opportunities with NBC's national news organization while working for WNBC in New York. Lauer filled in as the newsreader on The Today Show for Margaret Larson when needed from 1992 to 1993. This "audition" period allowed him to join The Today Show full-time in January 1994 as news anchor, while still co-anchoring Today in New York and Live at Five.

Lauer stepped in for Scott Simon, Mike Schneider and Jack Ford as the co-host of Weekend Today, and for Ann Curry as anchor of the former NBC News program NBC News at Sunrise from 1992 to 1997. He had also filled in for Tom Brokaw on NBC Nightly News. As the Today Show news anchor, he also pinch-hit for Bryant Gumbel on the Today Show before being named the official co-anchor on January 6, 1997, after Gumbel stepped down.^[8]

In addition to his duties on the Today Show, Lauer has also hosted programming on the Discovery Channel^[9] and MSNBC.

Career highlights

Beginning in 1998, Lauer has embarked on a once-yearly five-day globe-spanning adventure called "Where in the World is Matt Lauer?" on the Today Show. It was named after the PBS game show Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? from which it borrowed the theme song. This segment has sent Lauer to the far reaches of the Earth where he has reported on the importance of each location. In recent years, he has broadcast from locations including Bhutan, Easter Island, the Panama Canal, Iran, Hong Kong, Croatia, and the Great Wall of China.^[10] For 2009 NBC announced this popular segment would not be airing because of the country's economy.

On some occasions, interviews conducted by Lauer have escalated into tense exchanges. In a June 2005 interview, Tom Cruise started an argument with Lauer about psychiatry and postpartum depression and called Lauer "glib". In December 2008, three and a half years later, Cruise said that he regrets the exchange, and even playfully arm-wrestled Matt Lauer in the same studio where the confrontation took place.^[11]

In a June 2006 interview with Ann Coulter, Coulter responded to Lauer's questioning her criticism of September 11, 2001, widows and said, "You're getting testy with me."^[12] On December 30, 2009, during an on-set Birthday Party for him, Lauer introduced "Barney Miller" and "Fish" TV star Abe Vigoda who was standing behind the cameras. Lauer then warmly invited Abe to come over and sit on the couch where Lauer announced that Abe Vigoda was his favorite guest of all times on the "Today" show. The two then discussed Matt's Birthday and Abe's long career.

In November 2006, Lauer and his daughter Romy hosted the Sesame Street direct-to-DVD Sesame Beginnings: Exploring Together.

Lauer hosted The Greatest American on the Discovery Channel, which used Internet and telephone voting by viewers to select the winner. Lauer was critical of his own program since it tended to favor well-known figures over others who had less influence in pop culture.^{[citation needed]} Since 1998, he has co-hosted NBC's live coverage of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Lauer guest-starred as himself on a live episode of Will & Grace in early 2006. (Former co-anchor Katie Couric had guest-starred as herself on an episode of the same NBC sitcom a few years earlier.)^[13][14]

On June 19, 2007, he interviewed Princes William and Harry.^[15]

Lauer served as the 2009 Class Day speaker at Harvard University's undergraduate commencement ceremonies on June 3, 2009.

Matt Lauer appears as himself in the Land of the Lost movie, appearing in the beginning when Rick Marshall (Will Ferrell) appears on his show and single-handedly ruins his career. Lauer appears again at the end of the film, when Rick shows up with his new book, Matt Lauer Can Suck It. Both scenes ended in violent physical confrontation between the two, with the staff trying to break them up. The first confrontation was caused by Marshall, who, after storming off, charges at Lauer, prompting him to defend himself with a fire extinguisher. The second occurred when Lauer attacked Marshall after he gloats how his new book's title was legally acceptable.

Lauer has also co-hosted the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games. He has broadcast with Bob Costas the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer and 2010 Winter Olympics, carrying what his former co-host Katie Couric had done since the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Career timeline

• 1989–1991: 9 Broadcast Plaza host^[8]
• September 1992–September 1994: Today in New York co-anchor^[8]
• August 1993–September 1996: early evening newscast News Channel 4/Live at Five co-anchor^[8]
• June 13, 1994–January 3, 1997: Today news anchor^[8]
• January 6, 1997–present: Today co-anchor^[8]

Personal life

Lauer was married from 1982 until 1989 to a television producer named Nancy Alspaugh. The marriage ended in divorce. From 1989 until 1996, he dated Kristen Gesswein, a television newscaster. They were briefly engaged.^[1] In 1998, he married Annette Roque, a Dutch model known as "Jade." During Roque's pregnancy with their third child in 2006, she and Lauer separated. Although Roque filed for divorce in Manhattan Supreme Court on September 13, 2006, the couple subsequently reconciled.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Matt Lauer at the Internet Movie Database.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "Matt Lauer - Filmography", Matt Lauer at the Internet Movie Database.
3. ^ "Matt Lauer discovers his roots NBC Today Show". msnbc.com. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/26404624. Retrieved 2008-08-29. 
4. ^ Matt Lauer Biography (1957-)
5. ^ ^{a b} Jeffrey Zaslow, "The Lauer Within", interview with Matt Lauer, USA Weekend, April 30, 2000, accessed July 17, 2007.
6. ^ jweekly
7. ^ Ohio University Webpage
8. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Matt Lauer - Today Show - MSNBC.com
9. ^ Matt Lauer - Profile, Latest News and Related Articles
10. ^ MSNBC, "Where in the World is Matt Lauer?"
11. ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28162646/ "Three years after notorious Scientology rant, ‘I’m here to entertain people’", accessed January 6, 2009.
12. ^ http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06185/703146-44.stm "Queen of Mean: Coulter's attacks bring political discourse to a whole new level." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 4, 2006, accessed March 19, 2008.
13. ^ http://imdb.com/title/tt0748750/ "Will & Grace" Bathroom Humor (2006)
14. ^ http://imdb.com/title/tt0748827/ "Will & Grace" Marry Me a Little, Marry Me a Little More (2002)
15. ^ Matt Lauer, "In Honor of Diana: Two Princes Speak on the 10th Anniversary of Their Mother's Death", transcript of interview (updated), MSNBC, June 19, 2007, accessed July 17, 2007.

External links

• MSNBC bio
• Matt Lauer at the Internet Movie Database
• Matt's Video Blog
• TV schedule for Talk of the Town
• Video of Talk of the Town
• Video and Transcript of George Bush interview

Media offices
Preceded by Bryant Gumbel	Today Co-Anchor January 6, 1997 – present with Katie Couric from 1997 to 2006 Meredith Vieira from 2006 to 2011 and Ann Curry from 2011 to present	Succeeded by incumbent

Persondata
Name	Lauer, Matt
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	December 30, 1957
Place of birth	New York City, New York, U.S.
Date of death
Place of death