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Brian Williams
Brian Williams
Born	May 5, 1959 (age 47) Elmira, New York
Occupation	TV News Journalist
Spouse	Jane Stoddard
Children	Allison Douglas

Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is an American journalist and is the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, the flagship evening news program of the NBC television network. Williams replaced former Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw on December 2, 2004. Previously, Williams was the network's chief correspondent at the White House and host of The News with Brian Williams on CNBC and MSNBC.

Contents 1 Early life and career 2 WCBS 3 Trivia 4 Notable coverage 5 External links

Williams, the youngest of four children, was raised in a middle class family in Middletown, New Jersey. Williams graduated from Mater Dei, a Roman Catholic High School in New Monmouth, New Jersey, and attended George Washington University and The Catholic University of America where he gave the commencement address in 2004. To pay his tuition, he worked at a pancake restaurant and at a local Sears store. In addition, he was a volunteer firefighter in high school. He calls leaving college a decision that he terms "one of my great regrets." He never graduated (dropped out), instead taking an entry level job with the Carter Administration.

After working in the lobbying arm of the National Association of Broadcasters, Williams began his broadcasting career at KOAM-TV in Pittsburg, Kansas. He moved back to Washington, D.C. and worked at WTTG-TV as general assignment correspondent. He then worked for WCAU-TV in Philadelphia, as a New Jersey correspondent. Williams was hired at WCBS-TV in New York. He won his first Emmy for his reporting of the stock market collapse. Williams still regards WNBC's Chuck Scarborough as a mentor. He won Emmys in 1987, 1989, and 1993.

It was at WCBS-TV where Williams was discovered by national network executives. Wiliams was the anchor of First News, WCBS's 4 P.M. newscast. In February 1993, he headed up WCBS's coverage of the World Trade Center Bombing with live reports from the street. In March of 1993, Williams began work at NBC News

• Replaced Maury Povich as host of locally produced Washington D.C chat show Panorama in 1985.

• Worked as an intern during the administration of U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

• Williams is currently the longest serving network news anchor with the retirements of Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather and the death of Peter Jennings.

• In a December 2004 interview with C-Span's Brian Lamb, Williams proclaimed that he is a longtime listener of The Rush Limbaugh Show : "...I think it's my duty to listen to Rush. I think Rush has actually yet to get the credit he is due, because his audience for so many years felt they were in the wilderness of this country. No one was talking to them." [1]

• Williams is known to have been a big Dale Earnhardt fan, even visiting Earnhardt a few times (Williams and his son Douglas were at Talladega Superspeedway in October 1999 for a race when Williams interviewed Earnhardt for his show.

• Williams is a big New York Giants fan. On Conan O'Brien, Williams announced he "bleeds Giants blue."

• Has appeared three times on The Daily Show as a celebrity guest and interviewed by Jon Stewart, most recently on Tuesday, August 8th, 2006.

• Appeared on Saturday Night Live September 30, 2006 ready to co-anchor the Weekend Update segment with Amy Poehler, but is told by Poehler that Seth Meyers will be co-anchoring Weekend Update.

• In The Head and the Hair episode of the sitcom 30 Rock, Jack and Kenneth are sent to clean up Williams' dressing room while he is apparently at the liquor store - in the room they find underwear filled with bird seed and graffiti on the wall reading "Katie Couric Sucks".

• At the 2007 White House 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.

• Death of Princess Diana
• Northeast Blackout of 2003 (Anchored live coverage)
• Tsunami in Asia
• Death of Pope John Paul II
• Hurricane Katrina (Was the only network news anchor to be in the region when the storm hit; stuck out the Hurricane inside the fabled Louisiana Superdome)
• 2006 Winter Olympics
• 2006 Death of President Ford (Anchored live coverage)
• Death of John F. Kennedy, Jr.

• NBC News Bio
• The Daily Nightly - Brian Williams's blog
• Video of talk to journalists group - from SAJAforum.org
• NBCs Spring Ritual

Preceded by Tom Brokaw

NBC Nightly News Anchor December 2, 2004 - Present

Succeeded by incumbent

Anchors of The NBC Nightly News
John Cameron Swayze • Chet Huntley • David Brinkley • Frank McGee • John Chancellor • Tom Brokaw • Roger Mudd • Brian Williams