Meredith Vieira facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Meredith Vieira
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Meredith Vieira hosting NBC's Today in 2010
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| Born |
Meredith Louise Vieira
December 30, 1953 Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Tufts University |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1975–present |
| Television |
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| Spouse(s) |
Richard M. Cohen
(m. 1986; died 2024) |
| Children | 3 |
Meredith Louise Vieira (born December 30, 1953) is an American journalist and television host. She is well-known for hosting popular TV shows. These include The View (1997–2006), Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (2002–2013), and Today (2006–2011).
Since 2019, she has hosted the game show 25 Words or Less. Vieira has also worked on shows like Dateline NBC and Intimate Portrait. From 2014 to 2016, she hosted her own talk show, The Meredith Vieira Show.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Meredith Vieira was born in Providence, Rhode Island. She grew up in East Providence. Her parents, Mary Elsie and Edwin Vieira, were both first-generation Portuguese Americans. Her father was a medical doctor and her mother was a homemaker.
Meredith is the youngest of four children. All four of her grandparents came from the Azores islands. The family name Vieira means "scallop" in Portuguese. Her family moved to New England in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Vieira went to the Lincoln School, an all-girls school in Providence. She graduated in 1971. In 1975, she earned a degree in English from Tufts University.
Meredith's Career Journey
Starting in Radio and Local TV (1975–1982)
Meredith Vieira began her career in 1975. She worked as a news announcer for WORC radio in Worcester, Massachusetts. Later, she moved to television. She became a local reporter and anchor at WJAR-TV in Providence. From 1979 to 1982, she was an investigative reporter at WCBS-TV in New York City.
Working at CBS News (1982–1993)
Vieira became known nationally as a reporter for CBS. She worked in their Chicago office from 1982 to 1984. She then became a correspondent for news shows like West 57th (1985–89) and 60 Minutes (1989–91). Her last job at CBS was as co-anchor of the CBS Morning News (1992–93).
Moving to ABC and The View (1994–2006)
Vieira joined ABC as a correspondent for the news show Turning Point (1994–99). She also hosted the Lifetime Network show Intimate Portrait from 1995 to 2004.
She became the first moderator and co-host of ABC's daytime talk show The View. The show started on August 11, 1997. She stayed until June 9, 2006. As moderator, she started and ended each live episode. She also led discussions and introduced topics.
Vieira once explained why she became the moderator of The View. She said she realized she loved reporting but did not want to travel a lot. So, she needed to find a new path in her career.
Hosting Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (2002–2013)
Meredith Vieira became the first host of the syndicated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. This began on September 16, 2002. Before this, the show was a primetime hit on ABC with Regis Philbin as host.
Vieira won two Daytime Emmy Awards for hosting Millionaire. She won in 2005 and 2009. This made her the second woman to win an Emmy in this category. She was also the first to win multiple times. She was also a co-executive producer for the show from 2005 until she left.
Vieira said she hosted the show because she loved it. She felt it was a show families could watch together. She hosted over 1,800 episodes and helped contestants win over $70,000,000. On January 10, 2013, she announced she would leave the show to work on other projects.
Today and The Meredith Vieira Show (2006–2016)
On April 6, 2006, Vieira accepted an offer to become co-anchor of Today. She replaced Katie Couric. The next day, Vieira announced on The View that she would be leaving to join Today. Rosie O'Donnell took over as moderator of The View.
Vieira hosted Today with Matt Lauer from September 13, 2006, to June 8, 2011. She also became a contributing anchor for Dateline NBC. She continued to host Millionaire while on Today. Her contract for Millionaire meant she rarely appeared on the third or fourth hours of Today. This was to avoid conflicts with the game show's airing times.
On May 9, 2011, Vieira announced she would leave as co-host of Today the next month. She remained with Today as a special correspondent. She returned for special broadcasts, like Halloween and the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. She also contributed to Dateline NBC and Rock Center with Brian Williams.
Vieira was a host for NBC's coverage of the 2012 London Summer Olympics and the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. On February 14, 2014, she became the first woman to solo anchor NBC's Olympics prime time coverage.
In July 2013, Vieira announced she would host her own syndicated daytime talk show. The Meredith Vieira Show began in September 2014. It was produced by NBCUniversal Television Distribution. The show ended after two seasons on May 20, 2016, with 290 episodes.
Vieira also guest-anchored Today with Hoda & Jenna in 2019.
Other Television Work
In May 2018, Vieira co-hosted Royal Wedding Watch for PBS. This was a week-long coverage of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
25 Words or Less (2019–Present)
Vieira returned to daytime TV in the fall of 2019. She became the host of the syndicated game show 25 Words or Less. The show is based on a board game. It pairs contestants with celebrities. They try to guess a list of five words using fewer than 25 words in total.
Personal Life
Meredith Vieira married CBS News journalist Richard M. Cohen on June 14, 1986. They lived in Irvington, New York. Richard Cohen had multiple sclerosis since he was 25. He also had two battles with colon cancer. Richard Cohen passed away on Christmas Eve 2024 at age 76.
Vieira and Cohen had three children. Their younger son, Gabe Cohen, is a reporter for CNN.
Balancing Family and Career
Vieira joined 60 Minutes in 1989 after her first child was born. The show's executive producer, Don Hewitt, allowed her to work part-time for two seasons. This helped her care for her child. After two years, she became pregnant again and asked to continue part-time. Hewitt did not agree and hired someone full-time instead.
Her leaving the show made headlines. It started a national discussion about whether women could balance both family and career. She turned down offers to co-host other morning shows when her children were young.
Vieira talks about her family and career choices in the book Divided Lives: The Public and Private Struggles of Three Accomplished Women.
Career Timeline
- 1986–1993: CBS News
- 1986–1989: West 57th
- 1989–1992: 60 Minutes correspondent
- 1992–1993: CBS Morning News co-anchor
- 1994–2006, 2016: ABC
- 1994–97: Turning Point correspondent
- 1997–2006, 2016: The View moderator and guest moderator
- September 16, 2002 – May 31, 2013: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire host
- 2006–present: NBC News
- 2007–present: Dateline NBC contributing anchor
- September 2006 – June 2011: Today co-anchor
- June 2011–present: NBC News special correspondent
- October 31, 2011 – June 21, 2013: Rock Center with Brian Williams correspondent
- 2014: NBC reporter for the 2014 Winter Olympics
- 2014–2016: The Meredith Vieira Show host & executive producer
- 2019–present: Guest co-anchor of Today, Today with Hoda & Jenna
- 2019–present: Host of 25 Words or Less
Other Notable Appearances
- 1998: Host of Miss America 1999
- 2000: Pre-show host for the Academy Awards on ABC
- 2003: Appeared in the Broadway show Thoroughly Modern Millie
- 2003: Appeared on General Hospital as Bree Flanders
- 2003: Appeared on The Practice (Season 7, Episode 17) as a Security Guard
- 2004: Had a cameo in The Stepford Wives as a game show host
- 2004: "Hosted" a spoof of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? called Who Wants to Be King of the Jungle? on The Lion King 1½ DVD
- 2005: Hosted featurettes on the first season DVDs of Desperate Housewives
- 2006-10: Co-hosted NBC's live coverage of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
- 2007: Guest appearance on The View
- 2007–10: Guest appearances on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock
- 2008: Voice of a news reporter in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
- 2010: Appeared as herself in the film Get Him to the Greek
- 2010: Voice of Broomsy Witch in Shrek Forever After
- 2010: Appeared on Pawn Stars in a dream sequence
- 2011: Guest investigator on the Ghost Hunters episode "Murdered Matron"
- 2011: Cameo appearance in "The Wedding of River Song" on Doctor Who
- 2012: Guest appearance on What Would You Do?
- 2015 and 2016: Guest narrator at the Candlelight Processional at Epcot
- 2016: Announcer and co-anchor for the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics on NBC
- 2017: Cameo role as herself on Orange Is the New Black, season 5, episode 8.
Images for kids
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Meredith Vieira hosting NBC's Today in 2010
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Vieira with Michael Bublé
See also
In Spanish: Meredith Vieira para niños
