A respected broadcast journalist who spent decades tackling hard-hitting news stories such as AIDS, white supremacy and adoption scams before becoming the no-nonsense moderator of the popular daytime talk show
The View, Vieira began her career in the '70s as a radio announcer. Her combination of good looks and sharp intelligence made her a natural for on-camera work, and she spent the '80s and early '90s at CBS, appearing on the network's evening news and morning shows and eventually becoming a correspondent on
60 Minutes. She left the lauded newsmagazine in 1991 when she became pregnant with her second child, but she didn't stay out of the spotlight for long. Two years later she jumped to ABC, and after a four-year stint hosting the now-defunct series
Turning Point, she lent her journalistic credibility to
The View, where she helped keep her outspoken cohosts on topic and under control. A devoted mother of three, Vieira effortlessly connected with viewers on a personal level by sharing details about her life, including her husband Richard Cohen's struggle with multiple sclerosis. She also branched out as host of various specials and of the daytime version of the game show
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in 2002, which earned her a Daytime Emmy in 2005. In April 2006 she announced that she would take over Katie Couric's spot on NBC's long-running morning show
Today, beginning in September of that year.
Meredith Vieira Fast Facts:
- Became a reporter for WCBS-TV in New York in 1979; in 1982, went national as a Chicago-based reporter for CBS News. It was in Chicago that she met her husband, Richard Cohen, who was a producer for The CBS Evening News.
- Was one of the hosts of CBS's newsmagazine West 57th, which debuted in 1985, and won four Emmys for her work on the program. She later won Emmys for 60 Minutes and the ABC newsmagazine Turning Point, as well as a Daytime Emmy as host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
- Asked to pose nude by Playboy magazine in 2000; she said no.
- Became host of the syndicated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in 2002; set a record for hosting more episodes of a game show than any other woman.
- On April 2, 2003, she made her one-night-only, Broadway debut as "an honorary cast member" in the Tony Award-winning musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie.
- Husband Richard Cohen suffers from multiple sclerosis.
- In April 2006, she announced that she would take over Katie Couric's spot on NBC's morning show Today starting in September.
- Meredith Vieira Relationships:
- Benjamin Edwin Cohen - Son
- Edwin Vieira - Father
- Gabriel Anthony Cohen - Son
- Lily Max Cohen - Daughter
- Mary Elsie Vieira - Mother
- Richard M. Cohen - Husband
- College:
- Tufts University, Medford, MA (1975)
