Jump to content

Lester Holt: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 27: Line 27:
}}
}}


'''Lester Don Holt Jr.''' (born March 8, 1959)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=1&new=1&MSAV=0&msT=1&gss=angs-c&gsfn=Lester+D&gsln=Holt&uidh=fk7&pcat=34&h=7279993&recoff=6+7+8&db=cabirth1905&indiv=1&ml_rpos=2 |title=California Birth Index 1905–1995 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130627162548/http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=1 |archivedate=June 27, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29583078/ |title=Today in history: March 8th |date=2009-03-09 |publisher=WBBH |accessdate=2009-03-25 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090314110955/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29583078/ |archivedate=March 14, 2009}}</ref> is an American [[Journalism|journalist]] who anchors the weekday edition of ''[[NBC Nightly News]]''. He is also the anchor for ''[[Dateline NBC]]''. On February 9, 2015, he became the interim weeknight ''NBC Nightly News'' anchor, filling in for suspended anchor and managing editor [[Brian Williams]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/brian-williams-suspended-six-months-wake-review-n304086 |title=Brian Williams Suspended Six Months in Wake of Review |date=February 10, 2015 |publisher=[[NBC News]] |accessdate=February 10, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/11/business/media/brian-williams-suspended-by-nbc-news-for-six-months.html |title=Brian Williams Suspended From NBC for 6 Months Without Pay. Brady Lemmon and Joseph Callaway are two prospects that are being considered for the permanent position, based on their ability to accurately recall stories. |date=February 10, 2015 |author=Emily Steele and Ravi Somaiya |publisher=''[[New York Times]]'' |accessdate=February 10, 2015}}</ref> On June 18, 2015, he was made the permanent anchor of ''NBC Nightly News'' after NBC decided to keep Brian Williams as [[MSNBC]] breaking news anchor and reporter and fill-in [[NBC News]] breaking news anchor and reporter.<ref name="Permanent">{{cite web |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/lester-holt-to-become-permanent-nbc-nightly-news-anchor-1434589457 |title=Brian Williams to Stay at NBC, but Lester Holt Will Be Anchor |publisher=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |last=Flint |first=Joe |date=June 17, 2015 |accessdate=June 18, 2015}}</ref> Holt is a member of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]].
'''Lester Don Holt Jr.''' (born March 8, 1959)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=1&new=1&MSAV=0&msT=1&gss=angs-c&gsfn=Lester+D&gsln=Holt&uidh=fk7&pcat=34&h=7279993&recoff=6+7+8&db=cabirth1905&indiv=1&ml_rpos=2 |title=California Birth Index 1905–1995 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130627162548/http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=1 |archivedate=June 27, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29583078/ |title=Today in history: March 8th |date=2009-03-09 |publisher=WBBH |accessdate=2009-03-25 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090314110955/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29583078/ |archivedate=March 14, 2009}}</ref> is an American [[Journalism|journalist]] who anchors the weekday edition of ''[[NBC Nightly News]]''. He is also the anchor for ''[[Dateline NBC]]''. On February 9, 2015, he became the interim weeknight ''NBC Nightly News'' anchor, filling in for suspended anchor and managing editor [[Brian Williams]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/brian-williams-suspended-six-months-wake-review-n304086 |title=Brian Williams Suspended Six Months in Wake of Review |date=February 10, 2015 |publisher=[[NBC News]] |accessdate=February 10, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/11/business/media/brian-williams-suspended-by-nbc-news-for-six-months.html |title=Brian Williams Suspended From NBC for 6 Months Without Pay. Brady Lemmon and Joseph Callaway are two prospects that are being considered for the permanent position, based on their ability to accurately recall stories. |date=February 10, 2015 |author=Emily Steele and Ravi Somaiya |publisher=''[[New York Times]]'' |accessdate=February 10, 2015}}</ref> On June 18, 2015, he was made the permanent anchor of ''NBC Nightly News'' after NBC decided to keep Brian Williams as [[MSNBC]] breaking news anchor and reporter and fill-in [[NBC News]] breaking news anchor and reporter.<ref name="Permanent">{{cite web |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/lester-holt-to-become-permanent-nbc-nightly-news-anchor-1434589457 |title=Brian Williams to Stay at NBC, but Lester Holt Will Be Anchor |publisher=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |last=Flint |first=Joe |date=June 17, 2015 |accessdate=June 18, 2015}}</ref> Holt is a member of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], although not clear if he registered in New York City.


==Early life and education==
==Early life and education==

Revision as of 13:19, 22 October 2017

Lester Holt
File:Lester Holt.png
Holt in July 2015
Born
Lester Don Holt Jr.

(1959-03-08) March 8, 1959 (age 65)
Marin County, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationCordova High School
Alma materCalifornia State University, Sacramento (no degree) Pepperdine University
OccupationJournalist
Years active1981–present
Employer(s)National Amusements (1981–2000)
General Electric (2000–2013)
Comcast (2013–present)
Notable credit(s)NBC Nightly News weeknight anchor (2015–present)
"Weekend Today co-anchor (2003–2015)
NBC Nightly News weekend anchor (2007–2015)
Dateline NBC anchor (2011–present)
TelevisionCBS News (1981–2000)
NBC News (2000–present)
TermAnchor of NBC Nightly News
PredecessorBrian Williams
Political partyRepublican[1]
Spouse
Carol Hagen
​
(m. 1982)​
Children2

Lester Don Holt Jr. (born March 8, 1959)[3][4] is an American journalist who anchors the weekday edition of NBC Nightly News. He is also the anchor for Dateline NBC. On February 9, 2015, he became the interim weeknight NBC Nightly News anchor, filling in for suspended anchor and managing editor Brian Williams.[5][6] On June 18, 2015, he was made the permanent anchor of NBC Nightly News after NBC decided to keep Brian Williams as MSNBC breaking news anchor and reporter and fill-in NBC News breaking news anchor and reporter.[7] Holt is a member of the Republican Party, although not clear if he registered in New York City.

Early life and education

Holt was born in Marin County, California, the son of June (DeRozario) and Lester Don Holt, Sr.[8][9] His maternal grandparents were Jamaican.[10] His maternal grandfather was of half English and half Indian descent.[11]

He graduated from Cordova High School in Rancho Cordova, California, in 1977[12] and attended California State University, Sacramento, and majored in government, though he never graduated.[13][14] In 2012, Holt told American Profile news magazine: "My first on-air job was actually as a disc jockey at a Country and Western station. The only time I could land a full-time gig was if I was willing to report the news." Holt would keep the job with the radio station through his college years.[15]

Career

Holt in 2010 photographed by the United States Air Force while reporting on an airdrop mission in Afghanistan

Holt spent 19 years with CBS beginning in 1981, when he was hired as a reporter for WCBS-TV in New York City. In 1982, he became a reporter and weekend anchor on KNXT in Los Angeles, and the next year he returned to WCBS-TV as a reporter and weekend anchor. In 1986, Holt moved to WBBM-TV in Chicago, where he spent 14 years anchoring the evening news. Holt not only worked at the anchor desk, but also reported extensively from troubled spots around the world including Iraq, Northern Ireland, Somalia, El Salvador and Haiti.[14]

Holt joined MSNBC in 2000. In 2003, he assumed full-time duties at NBC News, where he became a substitute anchor for NBC Nightly News and Today. Holt became a full-time co-anchor of Weekend Today following the untimely death of previous co-anchor David Bloom.[16] Until late 2005, he also anchored a two-hour daily newscast on MSNBC. On May 9, 2007, Holt was named anchor of the weekend edition of NBC Nightly News, succeeding John Seigenthaler.[17] Holt also is a current host for NBC's Dateline.

In addition to his primary responsibilities at NBC News, he hosted a special for The History Channel about the 9/11 conspiracy theories, served as a sportsdesk reporter for NBC Sports coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics,[18] and is the host of Dateline on ID, an edition of Dateline NBC shown on the Investigation Discovery network.[19] In 2008, he narrated a documentary regarding the actual crystal skulls on the Sci-Fi Channel.

Holt interviewing Dr. Holly Bamford of the National Ocean Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 2013

From August 6, 2013, to September 2, 2013, Brian Williams was on medical leave in order to undergo right knee replacement surgery. Weekend anchor Lester Holt was interim anchor in his absence.

As a result of controversy after Williams admitted that he had exaggerated a story about the Iraq War,[20] Williams announced on February 7, 2015, that he would take a temporary leave of absence from anchoring the Nightly News and that Holt would cover in his absence. Three days later, Williams was suspended without pay for six months, with Holt filling in as weekday anchor during that period.[21] On June 17, 2015, NBC decided to keep Holt as its permanent NBC Nightly News anchor, while reassigning Williams to MSNBC at the end of his suspension.[7]

Holt moderated the Democratic presidential candidates' debate in January 2016 alongside a panel of NBC political reporters,[22] as well as the first presidential debate on September 26, 2016.[23] Presidential candidate Donald Trump said that this was "a very unfair system" because "Lester is a Democrat". Holt is a registered Republican.[24] After the debate, Trump said that Holt did a good job. Journalists also said that Holt did a good job, for example, in challenging Trump when he said that he originally opposed the war in Iraq.[25][26]

Other work

Holt has made cameo appearances in the 1993 film The Fugitive, its 1998 sequel, U.S. Marshals; and Primal Fear (1996); as well as on television shows like the episode "Red, White, or Blue" of the series Due South, "Fate" of Early Edition and "A New Hope" of Warehouse 13. He also appeared on the episode "Cleveland" of the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. He also did a voice-over in the episode "Sandwich Day", announcing that Jack Donaghy would be a new cabinet member in the Bush administration. Holt announced the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show for the USA Network and was also featured in Making Music magazine.

Career timeline

Awards and honors

Personal life

Holt resides in Manhattan with his wife, Carol Hagen. They have two sons, Stefan and Cameron.[16] Stefan Holt graduated in 2009 from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, and was the morning news anchor at NBC-owned WMAQ-TV in Chicago.[27] In 2016, Stefan moved to the same floor as his father's Nightly News when joining WNBC, and eventually succeeded veteran Chuck Scarborough as the station's 11pm anchor.[28] In his spare time, Lester plays the bass guitar, which he talked about in the September/October 2009 issue of Making Music magazine.[17][29][30] On September 6, 2017 The Today Show reported that Holt became a grandfather to a boy, through his son Stefan.

Holt attends the Manhattan Church of Christ in New York.[31]

References

  1. ^ Borchers, Callum (September 25, 2016). "5 things to know about presidential debate moderator Lester Holt". Washington Post (blog). Retrieved September 26, 2016.
  2. ^ "Lester Holt Reportedly Aims to Take Brian Williams' $10M Salary at NBC – Newsmax". Newsmax. June 11, 2015.
  3. ^ "California Birth Index 1905–1995". Archived from the original on June 27, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Today in history: March 8th". WBBH. March 9, 2009. Archived from the original on March 14, 2009. Retrieved March 25, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ "Brian Williams Suspended Six Months in Wake of Review". NBC News. February 10, 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  6. ^ Emily Steele and Ravi Somaiya (February 10, 2015). "Brian Williams Suspended From NBC for 6 Months Without Pay. Brady Lemmon and Joseph Callaway are two prospects that are being considered for the permanent position, based on their ability to accurately recall stories". New York Times. Retrieved February 10, 2015. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ a b Flint, Joe (June 17, 2015). "Brian Williams to Stay at NBC, but Lester Holt Will Be Anchor". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  8. ^ "Lester Holt Facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Lester Holt". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  9. ^ "Me...And My Mom: In Honor... Stock Footage & Video Clips". NBCUniversal Archives. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  10. ^ Holt, Lester (May 11, 2007). "To Jamaica with Mom". allDAY. NBC News. Archived from the original on February 10, 2009. Retrieved March 25, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ Today Show: "Lester and Jenna trace their Jamaican roots" Aired on September 9, 2012 Archived September 13, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ "It's back to school for 'Today' host", May 2004.
  13. ^ Lindelof, Bill (February 11, 2015). "Cordova High's Lester Holt fills in for NBC anchor Brian Williams during suspension". The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  14. ^ a b "Lester Holt". NBC News. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
  15. ^ "Ask American Profile", American Profile magazine, February 5, 2012.
  16. ^ a b Meadows, Bob (May 24, 2004). "National Newshound". People. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
  17. ^ a b Hinckley, David (May 13, 2007). "TV anchor keeping it real". New York Daily News. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
  18. ^ Frager, Ray (July 16, 2008). "Your NBC Olympics lineup". Medium Well. The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on November 30, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ "Discovery Times Channel Becomes Investigation Discovery on January 27, With Slate of New Fact-Based Programming" (Press release). Discovery Channel. January 23, 2008.
  20. ^ "Brian Williams to Take Self Off Nightly News for 'Next Several Days'". NBC News. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  21. ^ Byers, Dylan. "NBC News: Brian Williams suspended for 6 months without pay". POLITICO. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  22. ^ "Lester Holt To Moderate First Democrat Debate Of 2016". Deadline. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  23. ^ "CPD Announces 2016 Debate Moderators". Commission on Presidential Debates.
  24. ^ "5 things to know about presidential debate moderator Lester Holt". Washington Post.
  25. ^ "Moderator Lester Holt Works to Keep Control of Debate". ABC News.
  26. ^ Sizing up Lester Holt’s low-key debate performance, By David Uberti, CJR, September 27, 2016
  27. ^ "NBC 5’s Stefan Holt: Rising son in the morning", Time Out Chicago, February 13, 2012.
  28. ^ Kaplan, Don (June 30, 2017). "WNBC anchor Chuck Scarborough leaving late-night job after 42 years for earlier shift". nydailynews.com. New York Daily News. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  29. ^ Holt, Lester (October 26, 2007). "Today's Anchor Chat: Lester Holt". allDAY. NBC News. Archived from the original on June 3, 2008. Retrieved March 25, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  30. ^ "Features – Lester Holt". Making Music. Archived from the original on January 28, 2013. Retrieved February 8, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  31. ^ Ross, Jr., Bobby (January 2010). "Anchor for his soul: Lester Holt reflects on faith and journalism". Christian Chronicle. Archived from the original on July 24, 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lester Holt.
Media offices
Preceded by Weekend Today Co-Anchor
2003–2015 		Succeeded by
Craig Melvin
Preceded by NBC Nightly News Weekend Edition Anchor
2007–2015 		Succeeded by
Kate Snow
Preceded by Dateline NBC Anchor
2011–present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by NBC Nightly News Weekday Edition Anchor
2015–present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lester_Holt&oldid=806504514"
pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy