Matt Lauer

Matt Lauer
Matt Lauer, 2009-04-02
Born	Matthew Todd Lauer December 30, 1957 (1957-12-30) (age 51) New York City, New York, U.S.
Education	Ohio University
Occupation	television journalist
Children	Three
Salary	$13,500,000 annually[1]
Notable credit(s)	Today co-anchor (1997–present) Today news anchor (1994–1997)
Official website

Matthew Todd "Matt" Lauer (born December 30, 1957)^[2] is an American television journalist best known as the host of NBC's The Today Show since 1994.^[2] He was previously a news anchor in New York ^[3] and a local talk-show host in Boston, Philadelphia, Providence, and Richmond.^[3] He was also host of PM Magazine (or "Evening Magazine" 1980-1986)^[3] and worked for ESPN in the 1980s as a sideline reporter.^[3] In the early 1990s, Lauer hosted segments of HBO Entertainment News.

Personal life

Matt Lauer was born on December 30, 1957 in New York City, New York, the son of Marilyn Kolmer, a boutique owner, and Jay Robert Lauer, a bicycle-company executive.^[2][4] His parents divorced during his youth and his father died in 1997. Lauer had become co-host of The Today Show not long before his father's death.^[5] In 1999, both Lauer and his cohost 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]

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.^[2] In 1998, he married Annette Roque, a Dutch model known as "Jade." She appeared in one of Revlon's 1991 ads "The Most Unforgettable Women in the World Wear Revlon" along with Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover girl Daniela Pestrova and supermodel Elaine Irwin, who is married to John Mellencamp.

"We got married in a church, and when I go to churches and temples, I do feel something. I'm happy to be there. The minister who married us said he considers churches high places, elevated. I agree."^[5]

While his wife was pregnant with their third child, in 2006, Lauer and Annette separated. Though his wife filed for divorce in Manhattan Supreme Court on September 13, 2006, the couple subsequently reconciled.

Career

Lauer is a School of Telecommunications graduate of Ohio University. He attended Ohio University, but left six credits short of graduating in 1979. In 1997, he received his degree from Ohio University. The university awarded him his remaining credits by counting his journalism experience as "independent study" towards his degree. He was also the guest speaker at the graduation ceremony. Lauer began his television career in 1978 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.^[3] He was also host of PM Magazine from 1980-1986^[3] 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. He 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, Jack Ford, David Bloom, and Lester Holt 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.^[7] In April 2006, Lauer announced that he intends to stay with Today until 2011.

In addition to his duties on the Today Show, Lauer has also hosted programming on the Discovery Channel^[8] 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.^[9] 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 the confrontation took place.^[10]

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."^[11]

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.) ^[12][13]

On June 19, 2007, he interviewed Prince Henry and Prince William of Wales.^[14]

Lauer is scheduled to serve as the 2009 Class Day speaker at Harvard University's undergraduate commencement ceremonies.

Matt Lauer appears as himself in the Land of the Lost movie, appearing in the beginning when Rick Marshall appears on his show and single-handily ruining his career. Lauer doesn't appear later until at the end when Rick shows proof with his new book "Matt Lauer can Suck it". Both scenes ended in violent physical confrontation with the staff trying to break them up, the first caused by Marshall and the second by Lauer after Marshall gloats how his new book's title was legally acceptable.

Career timeline

• 1989–1991: 9 Broadcast Plaza host^[7]
• September 1992–September 1994: Today in New York co-anchor^[7]
• August 1993–September 1996:early evening newscast News Channel 4/Live at Five co-anchor^[7]
• June 13, 1994–January 3, 1997: Today news anchor^[7]
• January 6, 1997–present: Today co-anchor^[7]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Matt Lauer

• 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