Geraldo Rivera facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Geraldo Rivera
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Rivera in 2011
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Gerald Rivera
July 4, 1943 New York City, U.S.
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| Occupation | Journalist, talk show host, writer, attorney |
| Years active | 1970–present |
| Organization | Fox News Channel |
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| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) |
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| Children | 5 |
| Family | Craig Rivera (brother) |
Geraldo Rivera (born Gerald Rivera on July 4, 1943) is an American journalist, lawyer, author, and TV host. He worked for the Fox News Channel from 2001 to 2023. He is well known for hosting the talk show Geraldo from 1987 to 1998.
Rivera became famous for a live TV special in 1986 called The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults. He also hosted the news program Geraldo at Large and was a co-host on the show The Five. In 2024, Rivera joined the network NewsNation as a correspondent.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Geraldo Rivera was born in New York City. His father, Cruz "Allen" Rivera, was a restaurant worker and taxi driver from Puerto Rico. His mother, Lillian Friedman, was of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage. Rivera was raised mostly in the Jewish faith.
He grew up in Brooklyn and West Babylon, New York. Sometimes, his family faced prejudice. To avoid this, his mother sometimes spelled their last name as "Riviera." Rivera later explained that his mother was trying to protect her family.
From 1961 to 1963, Rivera attended the State University of New York Maritime College, where he was on the rowing team. He then went to the University of Arizona and earned a degree in business in 1965. After trying different jobs, he decided to study law.
Rivera went to Brooklyn Law School in 1966 and graduated near the top of his class in 1969. As a young lawyer, he worked for groups that helped people in his community, like the Young Lords, a Puerto Rican activist group. His work as a lawyer for this group got him noticed by a TV news director, which started his career in journalism.
Journalism Career
Starting at ABC News
In 1970, Rivera was hired by WABC-TV as a reporter for Eyewitness News. He became nationally known in 1972 for his report Willowbrook: The Last Great Disgrace. The report showed the poor treatment of patients with intellectual disabilities at the Willowbrook State School on Staten Island. This powerful story won him a Peabody Award, a major honor in broadcasting.
After seeing the Willowbrook report, musician John Lennon and Rivera organized a benefit concert called "One to One" to help the patients. Rivera also began appearing on ABC's national shows like 20/20 and Nightline.
In 1985, Rivera left ABC News after a disagreement with a top executive over a story he wanted to air.
Famous TV Shows and Specials
In 1986, Rivera hosted a famous TV special called The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults. The show was a live broadcast where a secret vault once owned by the gangster Al Capone was opened. Millions of people watched, but the vault turned out to be empty. Even so, it became a memorable television event.
The next year, in 1987, Rivera launched his own daytime talk show, Geraldo. The show ran for 11 years and was known for its controversial topics and emotional guests. One famous episode in 1988 involved a fight that broke out on set between guests with opposing views.
From 1994 to 2001, he hosted Rivera Live, an evening news and interview show on the channel CNBC.
Working at Fox News
After the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, Rivera joined Fox News as a war correspondent. He reported from Afghanistan and Iraq. During the Iraq War, he was asked to leave the country after he revealed details of a planned military operation on live television.
In 2005, Rivera reported from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He hosted the news program Geraldo at Large and was a regular commentator on many Fox News shows.
In 2015, Rivera was a contestant on the TV show The Celebrity Apprentice. He finished in second place and raised over $726,000 for charity, the most of any contestant that season.
In 2022, Rivera became one of the liberal co-hosts on the Fox News panel show The Five. He announced his departure from the show in June 2023 and then left Fox News, saying there were growing tensions at the network.
Joining NewsNation
In February 2024, it was announced that Rivera would join the TV network NewsNation as a correspondent-at-large. He had appeared as a guest on the network many times before this official announcement.
Personal Life
Rivera has been married five times and has five children. His son Gabriel was born in 1979. He has two daughters, Isabella and Simone, born in 1992 and 1994. He has another daughter with his current wife, Erica Michelle Levy, whom he married in 2003.
Rivera lives in Shaker Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. He is an experienced sailor and has sailed his boat, the Voyager, in races and on long journeys, including a trip up the Amazon River.
Political Views
Rivera is a member of the Republican Party, but he has supported candidates from both parties. For example, he supported Democrat Barack Obama in 2008 and Republican Mitt Romney in 2012. He has said he did not vote for Donald Trump in 2016. In 2024, he announced he would vote for Kamala Harris.
He has described his political views as supporting gay marriage and immigration reform. He also supports some forms of gun control.
Rivera has considered running for the U.S. Senate twice, once in New Jersey in 2013 and again in Ohio in 2022, but decided against it both times.
See also
In Spanish: Geraldo Rivera para niños
- List of Puerto Ricans
