Elizabeth Vargas facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Elizabeth Vargas
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Vargas in May 2018
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| Born |
Elizabeth Anne Vargas
September 6, 1962 Paterson, New Jersey, U.S.
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| Education | University of Missouri |
| Occupation | Television journalist |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Known for | Co-anchor of ABC World News Tonight Co-anchor for 20/20 Host of America's Most Wanted (2021) |
| Spouse(s) |
Marc Cohn
(m. 2002; div. 2014) |
Elizabeth Anne Vargas (born September 6, 1962) is a well-known American television journalist. She is currently a news anchor for NewsNation, where she hosts a show called Elizabeth Vargas Reports. Before this, she was the host of America's Most Wanted for Fox in 2021.
Elizabeth Vargas also worked for A&E Networks as a lead investigative reporter. For 14 years, she was an anchor for ABC's news show 20/20 and other ABC News specials. In 2006, she was also a co-anchor for World News Tonight.
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Early Life and Education
Elizabeth Anne Vargas was born in Paterson, New Jersey. Her father, Rafael "Ralf" Vargas, was a colonel in the U.S. Army from Puerto Rico. Her mother, Anne Vargas, was a part-time English teacher with Irish-American roots. Elizabeth has two siblings, Amy and Christopher.
Because her father was in the army, Elizabeth's family moved often. When she was four, they moved to Okinawa. Later, they lived in Germany, Belgium, and different parts of the United States. Elizabeth went to an American high school in Heidelberg, Germany. There, she discovered her strong interest in journalism.
In 1980, Vargas started studying at the University of Missouri in Columbia. She graduated in 1984 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. While in college, she worked as a student reporter for KOMU-TV and a student editor for KBIA. Her teachers and mentors remembered her as a very skilled and hardworking student.
Journalism Career
Elizabeth Vargas has had a long and successful career in television news. She has worked for several major news networks.
Early Career (1984–1993)
After college, Elizabeth Vargas began her career in Reno at KTVN, a CBS affiliate. She then moved to Phoenix to work as a lead reporter for KTVK-TV, which was an ABC affiliate at the time.
After three years in Phoenix, she moved to Chicago. There, she worked at WBBM-TV, a CBS station. People who worked with her noted how flexible and talented she was. She could handle many different types of stories and interviews. Vargas left WBBM-TV in 1993.
Working at NBC News (1993–1996)
In 1993, Vargas joined NBC News. She became a correspondent for the show Now with Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric. Later, she mainly worked as a correspondent for Dateline NBC. She also filled in as a substitute anchor for Today and the weekend editions of NBC Nightly News.
Time at ABC News (1996–2018)
In June 1996, Elizabeth Vargas joined ABC News as the newsreader for Good Morning America. She was seen as a possible future main anchor for the show. In 1997, ABC promoted her to a correspondent for prime-time news shows.
In 2002, she became one of the anchors for 20/20 Downtown, which later changed its name to Downtown and then Primetime Monday. She also reported for Primetime sometimes. She became the anchor of World News Tonight Saturday and later World News Tonight Sunday. In May 2004, she was named co-anchor of 20/20.
Vargas was one of the first national evening news anchors with Puerto Rican and Irish-American heritage. She was also one of the first women to anchor a major network evening newscast in the U.S. She won an Emmy Award in 1999 for her reporting on the Elián González story. In 1998, she was nominated for an Emmy for her investigation into a wrongful conviction on 20/20.
In April 2005, Vargas helped fill in for Peter Jennings on World News Tonight when he was ill. After Jennings passed away, Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff were chosen as co-anchors on December 5, 2005. She often anchored the broadcasts alone after Woodruff was injured in Iraq in 2006.
On May 23, 2006, Vargas announced she would leave World News Tonight. She returned as co-anchor of 20/20 and hosted ABC News specials. In 2008, Vargas hosted Elvis: Viva Las Vegas, a documentary about Elvis Presley's career in Las Vegas.
In 2013, Vargas received a Peabody Award for her work in ABC News' coverage of Hurricane Sandy on 20/20. On December 22, 2017, Vargas announced she would be leaving ABC News in May 2018. She officially left ABC on May 25, after a special farewell on 20/20.
Current Work (2018–Present)
In April 2018, A&E Originals signed Elizabeth Vargas to a new deal. She became the anchor for A&E Investigates, a series of non-fiction journalism programs. Her first series, Cults & Extreme Belief, aired in May 2018. Another series, The Untold Story, premiered in April 2019.
In January 2021, it was announced that Vargas would host a new version of America's Most Wanted on Fox. The show premiered on March 15, 2021. Vargas also anchors News Cafe on A&E's FYI Network.
In September 2022, Vargas was a guest anchor for NewsNation Prime. Soon after, she became the host of a true crime series called iCrime with Elizabeth Vargas. On January 10, 2023, it was announced that Vargas would host a new show on NewsNation, titled Elizabeth Vargas Reports, which started on April 3, 2023.
Personal Life
Elizabeth Vargas has a diverse family background, with Italian-Spanish and Irish-American heritage. She speaks English and Spanish fluently, and she also knows some French.
On July 20, 2002, Elizabeth Vargas married singer-songwriter Marc Cohn. They had been dating for three years. They have two sons named Zach and Sam. Vargas also has two stepchildren, Max and Emily, from Cohn's first marriage. In August 2014, Vargas and Cohn divorced after 12 years of marriage.
In 2014, fellow ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos introduced Vargas to Transcendental Meditation.
See also
- History of women in Puerto Rico
- Irish immigration to Puerto Rico
- List of Americans of Irish descent
- List of Puerto Ricans
- New Yorkers in journalism
Images for kids
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In Spanish: Elizabeth Vargas para niños
