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Brian Williams
Williams at the 2011 Time 100 gala
Born	Brian Douglas Williams (AKA THE CAWK SABBOTH) (1959-05-05) May 5, 1959 (age 65) Ridgewood, New Jersey, U.S.
Other names	Briwi
Education	Brookdale Community College George Washington University The Catholic University of America
Occupation(s)	News Anchor and Managing Editor of NBC Nightly News
Years active	1981–present
Notable credit(s)	NBC News reporter (1993–2004) NBC Nightly News weekend anchor (1993–1999) NBC Nightly News anchor (2004–present)
Spouse	Jane Gillan Stoddard Williams ​ ​(m. 1986)​
Website	www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3667173/

Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, the evening news program of the NBC television network, a position he assumed in 2004. Williams was listed among Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2007, and in 2010, a prominent media observer dubbed him "the Walter Cronkite of the 21st century."

Early life

Williams was reared in a middle-class Irish Catholic home. His father, Gordon L. Williams, was an executive vice president of the National Retail Merchants Association, in New York. During childhood, his family moved from his birthplace, Ridgewood, New Jersey, to Elmira, New York. He lived in Elmira for ten years before moving to Middletown, New Jersey, when he was in junior high school.

He graduated from Mater Dei High School, a Roman Catholic high school in the New Monmouth section of Middletown. While in high school, he was a volunteer firefighter for three years at the Middletown Township Fire Department. His first job was as a busboy at Perkins Pancake House.

After high school Wiliams attended Brookdale Community College, after which he transferred to The Catholic University of America, and then The George Washington University. He did not graduate, and instead interned with the administration of President Jimmy Carter. He now calls leaving college one of his "great regrets". Brian Williams completed a total of 18 college credits."

Nightly News

Williams became anchor of NBC Nightly News on December 2, 2004, and his first year in that post was marked by coverage of two disasters: the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. NBC personnel felt that the program became his program (rather than predecessor Tom Brokaw's) with his coverage of the tsunami, and his reporting on Katrina, including from inside the New Orleans Superdome, was given praise by industry observers. His work helped earn NBC a Peabody Award, the Peabody committee concluding that Williams and the Nightly News staff "exemplified the highest levels of journalistic excellence in reporting on Hurricane Katrina."

Nightly News fell behind ABC's World News in the first half of 2007. Nightly News regained the lead later in the year and expanded it beginning in the fall of 2008. Williams was compared by Jon Friedman of Marketwatch to Walter Cronkite.

When Williams succeeded Tom Brokaw as anchor of NBC Nightly News, his annual salary was reported to be $8 million, and by October 2006, it had reportedly increased to $10 million.

On May 1, 2011, Williams anchored a simulcast between all NBC affiliates and MSNBC covering the death of Osama bin Laden, going on air before 11:30 pm and continuing coverage until at least 2:00 am.

Rock Center with Brian Williams

On Tuesday, October 4, 2011, it was announced that Williams would be the host of Rock Center with Brian Williams, a newsmagazine program premiering on Monday, October 31, 2011, at 10:00 pm Eastern, replacing the cancelled drama series The Playboy Club. Named after the nickname of Rockefeller Center, the New York City landmark where NBC Radio City Studios are located, the program would become the first new NBC News program to launch in primetime in nearly two decades.

Appearances

Williams frequently appears on The Daily Show as a celebrity guest interviewed by Jon Stewart. He appeared on the Weekend Update segment of Saturday Night Live before hosting the program on November 3, 2007.

On February 22, 2010, while providing coverage of the Winter Olympics, Williams did a skit with Brian Williams, the Canadian sportscaster of CTV's on the CTV Olympic set. Some in the media dubbed this the new "Battle of the Brians," as NBC's Williams compared his own modest set to CTV's expensive Olympic studio.

Williams regularly appears on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, where he slow jams the news of the previous week as Fallon sings and reiterates what Williams says, with The Roots providing the musical backing. He has also made numerous appearances on Late Show with David Letterman despite its being on CBS, a competing network. During an appearance on July 26, 2011, Williams demonstrated a skilled vocal impersonation of TV personality Regis Philbin. Williams has also appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien where he took part in numerous skits and interviews.

... And then I pull off my mask, and I'm a lizard person, too. Blackout. End of episode.

— Williams on 30 Rock, proposing a new NBC show to Jack Donaghy

Williams also frequently makes guest appearances on NBC's television comedy 30 Rock as a caricatured version of himself. In the episode The Ones, he's seen at home receiving proposition calls meant for Tracy Jordan. In Audition Day, he auditions to be a new TGS cast member. He also is seen once on the show taunting Tina Fey's character Liz Lemon. In April 2012, on the West Coast installment of the 30 Rock season 6 live show, Williams portrayed a news anchor covering the Apollo 13 story.

Williams appeared on Sesame Street in a 2007 episode, announcing the word of the day, squid, in a special broadcast. Williams appeared on Sesame Street again in a 2008 episode reporting for Sesame Street Nightly News about the Mine-itis outbreak where he becomes a victim of it. He also was the host of the 2009 Annual Sesame Workshop Benefit Gala.

In May 2012, Williams spoke at The George Washington University commencement on the National Mall.

Personal life

Williams married his wife, Jane Gillan Williams (née Stoddard) at the First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan, Connecticut on June 7, 1986. Williams' father, Gordon L. Williams, is a former executive vice president of the National Retail Merchants Association.

He currently lives in New Canaan, Connecticut, with his wife, Jane Gillan Stoddard Williams, two children, Allison and Douglas Williams, and two dogs.

He received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Bates College in 2005

NASCAR

Williams is an avid fan of NASCAR in both the local and national levels. He was first exposed to auto racing as a child attending races on dirt tracks all over upstate New York. In 1999, Williams was the studio host of the first NASCAR race ever shown on NBC, the Pennzoil 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Two years later, at NASCAR's awards banquet in New York City, he introduced a videotaped tribute to Dale Earnhardt, who had died at the Daytona 500 some months earlier. Earnhardt and Williams had become close friends.

A 2012 promo for Rock Center with Brian Williams features a baseball motif, with the journalists' jerseys. Williams' jersey, similar to Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost, in honor of his Earnhardt friendship, carried #3.

New York Giants

Brian Williams has shown himself to be a fan of the New York Giants NFL franchise. This became noticeable publicly during the Giants 2011 Super Bowl run during which Williams was noted for not only openly discussing his fandom, but also wearing a New York Giants jersey underneath his sports jacket and over his dress shirt and tie, similar to a sweater.

Television

Career timeline

• 1981: KOAM-TV
• 1982–1984: WTTG-TV correspondent
• 1985: Panorama Host
• 1985–1987: WCAU-TV New Jersey correspondent
• 1987–1993: WCBS-TV Anchor of weekday noon and weekend night newscasts; reporter
• 1993–1994: NBC News correspondent
• 1994–1996: NBC News White House correspondent
• 1996–2004: The News with Brian Williams anchor
• 2004–present: NBC Nightly News anchor
• 2011–present: Rock Center with Brian Williams host

References

1. ^ Brian Williams - Nightly News with Brian Williams - MSNBC.com
2. ^ Movie & TV News @ IMDb.com - Studio Briefing - October 23, 2006
3. Brian Williams - The TIME 100 - TIME
4. ^ Jon Friedman, "Brian Williams: a Cronkite for the 21st century", MarketWatch, June 2, 2010.
5. Albiniak, Page (November 1, 2009). "Questions for Brian Williams". New York Post. Retrieved October 7, 2010. I come from a loud Irish-Catholic family.
6. "Brian Williams Weds Jane Stoddard, TV Producer". The New York Times. June 8, 1986.
7. "Brian Williams - Meet the faces of MSNBC". MSNBC Interactive. MSNBC. March 18, 2003. Archived from the original on February 16, 2008. Retrieved November 6, 2008.
8. Strauss, Robert. "IN PERSON; The Life Of Brian, Annotated", The New York Times, October 27, 2002. Retrieved June 13, 2011. "Mr. Williams grew up in Mom-apple-pie-and-TV-trays style in Middletown, Monmouth County, a town of true middle class.... Mr. Williams, who was in junior high when the family moved there from Elmira, N.Y., was an average student who had his eyes on fast cars, fun summer jobs and hanging out at the local fire station, where he became a volunteer firefighter."
9. "Brian Williams". NOPAC Talent. Retrieved October 14, 2007. Graduated from Mater Dei, a Roman Catholic High School in New Monmouth, NJ.
10. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Friday May 22, 2009
11. Strauss, Robert (October 27, 2002). "IN PERSON; The Life Of Brian, Annotated". The New York Times. Retrieved October 14, 2007.
12. "Remarks by Brian Williams. Tulane University Commencement". May 19, 2007.
13. Interview: Last Call with Carson Daly, NBC, May 20, 2011
14. Howard Kurtz, "NBC's Brian Williams, On Top of the News", Washington Post, December 5, 2005.
15. Bill Carter, "Storm and Crisis: The News Anchor; Career-Maker For Williams As the Anchor At NBC", New York Times, September 4, 2005.
16. Brian Stelter, "A Year Later: TVNewsers On Katrina", mediabistro.com, August 31, 2006.
17. Peabody Awards, Coverage of Hurricane Katrina 2005, Organization: NBC News.
18. "Evening News Ratings: Williams Tops Gibson In November Sweeps", New York Times, December 4, 2007.
19. "A Matrix of News Winners Buoys NBC", New York Times, March 8, 2009.
20. "Biography for Brian Williams (III)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved December 11, 2007.
21. Goldberg, Lesley (October 4, 2011). "NBC Cancels 'The Playboy Club'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
22. "NBC cancels 'Playboy Club,' schedules 'Rock Center'". HitFix. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
23. "Brian Williams Hosts Saturday Night Live Tonight". WOAI. November 3, 2007. Retrieved September 1, 2010.
24. "Williams skit lights up dull morning show". The Toronto Sun. torontosun.com. February 22, 2010.
25. *Upload of "The Summit: Brian Williams and Brian Williams" video on YouTube
26. Vlessing, Etan (February 22, 2010). "Olympics has new Battle of the Brians". Hollywood Reporter.
27. Hubbard, Matt (writer); Riggi, John (director) (February 3, 2011). "¡Qué Sorpresa!". 30 Rock. Season 5. NBC.
28. ^ "Brian Williams Weds Jane Stoddard, TV Producer". New York Times. June 8, 1986. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
29. "Brian Williams Biography-TV Guide".
30. . {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
31. "Top Ten Celebrity New York Giants fans".

External links

• NBC News Bio
• The Daily Nightly - Brian Williams's blog
• Bio and photo of Brian Williams — Crain's New York Business 40 under 40 — 1998
• Video of talk to journalists group - from SAJAforum.org
• Men's Vogue profile of Brian Williams
• Chmiel, David, "His Heart Belongs to Jersey", New Jersey Monthly, June 9, 2008. Retrieved 2009-11-19.
• C-SPAN Q&A interview with Williams, December 26, 2004
• Brian Williams: My First Big Break, youtube

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• American television news anchors
• Washington, D.C. television anchors
• New York City television anchors
• War correspondents
• Peabody Award winners
• American bloggers
• The Catholic University of America alumni
• People from Middletown Township, New Jersey
• American people of Irish descent
• 1959 births
• Living people
• NBC News
• American journalists
• American television reporters and correspondents