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 |
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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 a well-known American journalist and television host. She is famous for being the first host of the daytime talk show The View (1997–2006). She also hosted the popular game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (2002–2013). From 2006 to 2011, she was a co-host of the morning news program Today. Since 2019, she has been hosting the game show 25 Words or Less.
Meredith has also worked on other shows like Dateline NBC and NBC Nightly News. She hosted the series Intimate Portrait from 1994 to 2005. From 2014 to 2016, she had her own talk show called 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 from Portugal. They were the first in their families to be born in America. Meredith is the youngest of four children and has three older brothers.
All of Meredith's grandparents came from the Azores islands. These islands are part of Portugal. They moved to New England in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The family name Vieira means "scallop" in Portuguese. Meredith was raised in the Roman Catholic faith. However, she has said that she now feels more spiritual than religious.
Meredith went to the Lincoln School in Providence. This was an all-girls school run by Quakers. 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 started as a news announcer for WORC radio in Worcester, Massachusetts. Later, she moved to television. She worked as a 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)
Meredith became known across the country while working for CBS. She was a reporter in Chicago from 1982 to 1984. She then became a correspondent for national news shows. These included West 57th (1985–1989) and 60 Minutes (1989–1991). Her last job at CBS was co-anchoring the CBS Morning News from 1992 to 1993.
Moving to ABC and The View (1994–2006)
Meredith joined ABC in 1994. She was a correspondent for the news show Turning Point. She also hosted Intimate Portrait on the Lifetime Network.
A big step in her career was becoming the first host of The View. This daytime talk show started on August 11, 1997. Meredith was the main host until June 9, 2006. Her job was to start and end each live show. She would introduce topics and guide the discussions. On her last episode, her co-hosts honored her departure.
Meredith once shared why she decided to host The View. She said that being a reporter meant a lot of travel. She wanted a job that allowed her to be home more. So, she found a new path in her career.
Hosting Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (2002–2013)
Meredith Vieira became the first host of the daily version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. This started on September 16, 2002. Before this, the show was only on in the evenings with Regis Philbin as host.
Meredith 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 more than once. Besides hosting, she also helped produce the show from 2005 until she left.
The show's producers chose Meredith because she truly cared about the contestants. She would cheer them on. Meredith herself said she loved the show because it was something families could watch together.
Before hosting, Meredith was a contestant on a special Millionaire tournament. She won $250,000 for a charity called the Windows of Hope Family Relief Fund. She even hosted a segment for Regis Philbin on the show's 10th-anniversary special.
On January 10, 2013, Meredith announced she would leave Millionaire. She had hosted over 1,800 episodes and helped contestants win more than $70,000,000. She wanted to focus on other projects.
Co-hosting Today and The Meredith Vieira Show (2006–2016)
On April 6, 2006, Meredith accepted an offer to join Today. She took over from Katie Couric as co-anchor. The next day, Meredith announced on The View that she was leaving to join Today. She hosted Today with Matt Lauer from September 13, 2006, to June 8, 2011. She also became a contributor for Dateline NBC.
While on Today, Meredith continued to host Millionaire. Her contract meant she couldn't appear on Today during times that would compete with Millionaire on other channels. So, she rarely appeared during the third or fourth hours of Today.
On May 9, 2011, Meredith announced she would leave her regular co-host role on Today. She stayed on as a special correspondent. She returned for special events like Halloween and the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. She also contributed to Dateline NBC and Rock Center with Brian Williams.
Meredith was also a host for NBC's coverage of the 2012 London Summer Olympics and the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. In 2014, she became the first woman to host NBC's Olympics prime time coverage by herself.
In July 2013, Meredith announced she would host her own talk show. The Meredith Vieira Show started in September 2014. However, the show ended after two seasons on May 20, 2016.
In 2019, Meredith filled in as a guest co-anchor for a few episodes of Today with Hoda & Jenna.
Other TV Work and 25 Words or Less (2019–Present)
In May 2018, Meredith co-hosted "Royal Wedding Watch" for PBS. This was a week-long coverage of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
In the fall of 2019, Meredith returned to daytime TV. She became the host of the game show 25 Words or Less. This 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 lived with a long-term health condition called multiple sclerosis for over 50 years. He also faced cancer twice. Richard passed away on Christmas Eve 2024 at the age of 76.
Meredith and Richard had three children. Their younger son, Gabe Cohen, is a reporter for CNN.
Balancing Family and Career
Meredith joined 60 Minutes in 1989, after her first child was born. The show's producer, Don Hewitt, allowed her to work part-time. This helped her care for her child. After two years, she became pregnant again. She asked to continue working part-time, but her request was turned down. She left the show because of this.
Her departure from 60 Minutes made headlines. It started a national discussion about whether women could balance both family and career. Meredith turned down other big job offers when her children were young. She wanted to focus on her family.
Meredith has talked 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
- 1994–1997: 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 Appearances
- 1998: Host of Miss America 1999
- 2000: Host of the Academy Awards pre-show for ABC
- 2003: Appeared in the Broadway show Thoroughly Modern Millie
- 2003: Made a cameo on General Hospital as Bree Flanders
- 2004: Had a cameo in the film The Stepford Wives
- 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 special features on the Desperate Housewives DVD, interviewing cast members
- 2006-2010: Co-hosted NBC's live coverage of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
- 2007: Guest appearance on The View
- 2007–2010: Made 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: Made a cameo 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
Images for kids
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Meredith Vieira hosting NBC's Today in 2010
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Meredith Vieira with singer Michael Bublé
See also
In Spanish: Meredith Vieira para niños
- New Yorkers in journalism
