Janet Langhart facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Janet Langhart
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Janet Langhart in New York City, 2006
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| Born | Janet Leola Floyd December 22, 1941 Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer, journalist |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse |
Melvin Anthony Langhart
(m. 1968; div. 1969)Robert Kistner
(m. 1978; div. 1989) |
Janet Langhart Cohen, born on December 22, 1941, is an American journalist and author. She started her career as a model and then became a TV weather reporter.
She leads Langhart Communication, her own company. She is married to William Cohen, who used to be the Secretary of Defense for the United States. Janet has written books, including a play called Anne and Emmett, which was first shown at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2009.
Contents
Early Life and School
Janet Leola Floyd was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1941. She grew up with her mother, Mary Floyd, in a housing project. Her mother worked as a maid and a hospital secretary. Janet's parents were African-American, and they also had European and Native American family roots. Her father left the family after World War II.
In 1959, Janet graduated from Crispus Attucks High School in Indianapolis. She was part of the school band and the debate team. From 1960 to 1962, she went to Butler University. After her scholarship ended, she took some classes at Indiana University before starting to work full-time.
Family Life
Janet Floyd married Melvin Anthony Langhart in 1968, but their marriage was very short. Her second marriage was to Dr. Robert Kistner in 1978. He was a professor at Harvard Medical School. They divorced ten years later. In 1996, she married Senator William Cohen.
Career in Media
In 1962, Janet Langhart began her career as a model in Chicago. She worked for stores like Marshall Field's and for the Ebony Fashion Fair. In 1967, she won the title of Miss Chicagoland.
At age 29, Langhart became the first black "weathergirl" for WBBM-TV in 1970. Before that, she was a "weather gal" at WCIU. Around the same time, she hosted a morning interview show called "Indy Today" on WISH-TV in Indianapolis. She traveled between Indianapolis and Chicago for both shows.
Langhart became a well-known black television journalist at many stations. In September 1973, she joined Boston's WCVB-TV. There, she co-hosted the morning show Good Day! She worked there several times between 1973 and 1987. By 1976, Good Day was shown on 75 TV stations across the United States.
She became famous for interviewing celebrities and newsmakers. She spoke with people like singer Marian Anderson, jazz star Louis Armstrong, and popular singer Tony Bennett. She also interviewed Rosa Parks and David Duke. She became friends with comedian Dick Gregory and boxer Muhammad Ali. Civil rights leaders Melnea Cass and Martin Luther King Jr. were her mentors.
In 1978, NBC hired her, and she moved to New York. She hosted a daily talk show called People to People. This show was soon renamed America Alive. Langhart became a traveling reporter and co-host. The show was canceled after only six months.
After that, Langhart worked on a TV show called 9 Broadcast Plaza at WWOR-TV in New York City. She then returned to Boston TV, creating special programs for WNEV-TV. She also made some appearances on Good Day again. In 1989, she started doing segments for Entertainment Tonight. By early 1990, she became their New York reporter.
Langhart later left Entertainment Tonight. She believed it was because she asked Arnold Schwarzenegger about his father's past. She joked, "I was terminated by The Terminator". Later, she was a commentator on Black Entertainment Television (BET). She also worked as a reporter for the Boston Herald and the Boston Globe. She was a spokesperson for U.S. News & World Report and Avon Cosmetics. She says she is a liberal Democrat.
Marriage to William Cohen
Langhart met William Cohen during a phone interview. She was in Boston, and he was a Congressman from Maine. They met in person later when she worked for BET in Washington, D.C.. They became friends and started dating after they both divorced.
They got married at the United States Capitol on Valentine's Day in 1996. Cohen, a moderate Republican, was chosen by President Bill Clinton to be his Secretary of Defense.
When William Cohen became Secretary of Defense, Janet Langhart-Cohen was called "First Lady of the Pentagon." She had a public role while he was in office. She started programs to support military and civilian workers at the Defense Department. These included the Military Family Forum and the Pentagon Pops concert series. She also hosted interviews on Pentagon TV called Special Assignment. She volunteered as "First Lady of the USO". She helped get celebrities and others to work with the United Service Organizations.
In 1999, Langhart-Cohen started the Citizen Patriot Organization (CPO). This group honors people who serve and protect the United States. The CPO gives out awards to people like Jack Valenti and John McCain. The group also organizes events, including a Homeland Defense Tour. This tour brought appreciation events to first responders at the September 11 attacks sites. They also had a Citizen Patriot tour for military locations overseas.
Writing Career
Langhart wrote a book about her life called My Life in Two Americas; From Rage to Reason (2004). She and her husband William wrote a book together called Love in Black and White (2007). This book talks about race, religion, and the things they share in their lives.
Langhart also wrote Anne and Emmett. This is a one-act play that imagines a conversation between Anne Frank and Emmett Till. Anne Frank was a German Jew who died in a Nazi concentration camp. Emmett Till was an African American from Chicago who was killed in Mississippi. Both were young teenagers when they died. The play was first shown in 2009.
Holocaust Museum Incident
On June 10, 2009, Langhart was going to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Her play, Anne and Emmett, was going to be shown there. It was to honor Anne Frank's 80th birthday. Her husband, William Cohen, was waiting for her at the museum.
The play's showing was canceled. This happened after a security guard was shot and killed by an 88-year-old man. Langhart and her husband later appeared on CNN to talk about what they had seen.
