Bob Vila facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Bob Vila
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|
|---|---|
| Born |
Robert Joseph Vila
June 20, 1946 Miami, Florida, U.S.
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| Alma mater | University of Florida |
| Occupation | Television host entrepreneur |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Diana Barrett
(m. 1975) |
| Children | 3 |
Robert Joseph Vila (born June 20, 1946) is an American television host famous for his shows about home improvement. You might know him from This Old House, Bob Vila's Home Again, or simply Bob Vila. He teaches people how to fix up and improve their homes.
Contents
Early Life and Learning
Bob Vila grew up in Miami, Florida. His family is Cuban-American. When he was a kid, his dad actually built their family home with his own hands!
Bob went to Miami Jackson High School. After that, he studied journalism at the University of Florida. In 1969, he joined the Peace Corps, where he volunteered in Panama. He then spent two years traveling and studying in Europe before coming back to the U.S. He later studied architecture at the Boston Architectural Center.
Bob Vila's TV Career
Bob Vila became the host of This Old House in 1979. He got this job after winning an award for restoring an old Victorian house in Newton, Massachusetts. On This Old House, Bob worked with carpenter Norm Abram and others to fix up old homes.
In 1989, Bob left This Old House. This happened because of a disagreement about him working with other companies to promote their products. After leaving, he started his own weekly home-improvement show called Bob Vila's Home Again. This show later changed its name to just Bob Vila in 2005. His show was very popular and ran for 16 seasons! You can still watch reruns of it today.
Bob also worked with Sears to promote their Craftsman tools. This partnership ended in 2006.
You might have also seen Bob Vila on the TV show Home Improvement. He appeared as himself in three episodes. In the show, the main character, Tim Taylor (played by Tim Allen), saw Bob Vila as a friendly rival.
Bob Vila also appeared briefly in the 1993 comedy movie Hot Shots! Part Deux.
He has written 10 books, including a series called Bob Vila's Guide to Historic Homes of America. Since 2016, he has also sold his own brand of tools on the Home Shopping Network.
Other Cool Projects
Besides his main shows, Bob Vila has worked on other interesting productions:
- Guide to Historic Homes of America (1996)
- In Search of Palladio (1996) for A&E
- Restore America for HGTV
Guide to Historic Homes of America
This 1996 series explored historic homes across the United States. It had two-hour parts for different regions: the Northeast, the South, the Midwest, and the West.
The show featured many famous and beautiful old houses, like the Morris–Jumel Mansion in New York, the William Paca House in Maryland, and Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Virginia. It also showed homes designed by famous architects like Frank Lloyd Wright, including the unique Fallingwater house.
In Search of Palladio
This 1996 series was a three-part show about the work of a famous 16th-century architect named Andrea Palladio. Palladio designed many different types of buildings, but this series focused on his homes. It explored his influence in Italy, England, Ireland, and America.
The show featured beautiful villas in Italy, like the Villa Pisani. It also looked at buildings inspired by Palladio in London, like Chiswick House, and in America, such as Mount Pleasant in Philadelphia.
Restore America
Restore America was a series of 50 one-hour episodes. It explored historic preservation and building restoration in every U.S. state. It was shown on HGTV between 1999 and 2000.
See also
- List of Cuban Americans
