Linda Ellerbee facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Linda Ellerbee
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Ellerbee in 1978
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Linda Jane Smith
August 15, 1944 Bryan, Texas, U.S.
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| Known for | NBC News Overnight, Our World, Nick News |
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Mac Smith
(m. 1964; div. 1966)Van Kenneth Veseika
(m. 1968; div. 1971)Tom Ellerbee
(m. 1973; div. 1975)John David Klein
(m. 1975; div. 1983)Rolfe Tessem
(m. 1985) |
Linda Ellerbee (born Linda Jane Smith; August 15, 1944) is an American journalist, author, and news anchor. She is well-known for being a reporter in Washington, D.C. for NBC News. She also hosted NBC News Overnight. Many people know her best as the host of Nick News, a popular news show on Nickelodeon. This show, which she hosted for 25 years, talked about important topics for kids and teens, like wars, diseases, and disasters, in a way that was easy to understand.
Experts at the duPont Columbia Awards called her work on NBC News Overnight "possibly the best written and most intelligent news program ever." Linda Ellerbee was known for being smart, direct, and very observant. She officially retired in 2015 after working in journalism for 43 years.
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Early Life and First Jobs
Linda Ellerbee was born Linda Jane Smith in Bryan, Texas. She went to elementary, middle, and high school in Houston.
She also attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, but left in 1964. After that, Ellerbee traveled around the country. She took different jobs in radio. She once wrote about learning many things in radio, like how to keep records, edit sound, write stories, sell ad time, and be an announcer.
Later, she worked for a politician in Alaska. Then, the Dallas office of the Associated Press hired her to write news. She later moved to television, first at KHOU-TV in Houston in 1973, and then at WCBS-TV in New York City.
A Career in News
At NBC, Linda Ellerbee worked as a reporter for the Today show. Her first job as a news anchor was on the show Weekend. She hosted Weekend with Lloyd Dobyns. They often ended their show by saying, "And so it goes."
In 1982, Ellerbee and Dobyns worked together again on NBC News Overnight. Their unique writing style made the show special. They would end each broadcast with a short, often funny, comment, and again, they would say, "And so it goes." This phrase later became the title of her first book.
After Overnight ended in 1984, Ellerbee co-anchored Summer Sunday USA. This was the first time two women co-anchored a main network news program. She then worked as a reporter for Today before moving to ABC in 1986. At ABC, she was a reporter for Good Morning America. She also co-wrote and co-anchored Our World, a weekly history show. She won an Emmy Award for her work on Our World.
Starting Her Own Company
In 1987, Linda Ellerbee and her husband, Rolfe Tessem, started their own company called Lucky Duck Productions. This company has created shows for many different TV channels. Their most famous show is Nick News, a news program for children on Nickelodeon.
Nick News has won many awards. These include three Peabody Awards and three Emmy Awards. In 2004, Ellerbee also won an Emmy for her show When I Was a Girl on the WE: Women's Entertainment network.
In 1989, Ellerbee appeared as herself in an episode of the TV show Murphy Brown. She also appeared in TV commercials for Maxwell House coffee. Some people thought this was unusual for a serious journalist. However, Ellerbee later shared that another journalist, Jimmy Breslin, supported her by reminding her that he also made a commercial.
Books by Linda Ellerbee
Linda Ellerbee has written several books. Her autobiography, And So It Goes, was published in 1986. She wrote another memoir called Move On: Adventures in the Real World in 1991. A third book, Take Big Bites: Adventures Around the World and Across the Table, came out in 2005. She also wrote an eight-part series of Girl Reporter books for young people and a newspaper column.
Battling Cancer
In 1992, Linda Ellerbee was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had surgery to treat it. After her recovery, she spent a lot of time talking to groups. She shared her story about fighting cancer and encouraged women to get checked, ask for good medical care, and keep a positive attitude.
Where She Worked
National Television and Film
- Reporter, NBC News, 1976–1978
- Co-anchor, Weekend , 1978–1979
- Correspondent, NBC Nightly News, 1979–1982
- Co-anchor, NBC News Overnight, 1982–1984
- Co-anchor, Summer Sunday USA, 1984
- Reporter, Today, 1984–1986
- Reporter, Good Morning America, 1986
- Anchor, Our World, 1986–1987
- Narrator, Baby Boom, 1987
- President, Lucky Duck Productions, since 1987
- Commentator, CNN, 1989
- Producer, writer, and host, Nick News with Linda Ellerbee 1992–2015
Other Media Roles
- Disc jockey at WSDM Chicago 1965–1968
- Program director, KSJO San Francisco, 1967–1968
- Reporter, KJNO Juneau, Alaska, 1969–1972
- News writer, Associated Press in Dallas, Texas, 1972
- Television reporter, KHOU in Houston, 1972–1973
- General assignment reporter, WCBS-TV in New York City, 1973–1976
- Writer, host, On the Record
- On-line production with Microsoft, since 1996
- Panelist, The Roundtable, WAMC, 2020–
Awards and Honors
- 1992: NOW NYC's Women of Power & Influence Award
- 1998: Personal Peabody Award
- 2011: Paul White Award, Radio Television Digital News Association
