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Bryant Charles Gumbel (born September 29, 1948), is an American television personality for news and sports programs. He is best known for his 15-year stint as co-anchor of NBC's The Today Show. He is the younger brother of veteran sports broadcaster Greg Gumbel.
Early lifeGumbel was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the second child of parents Dunbar Gumbel and Rhea Alice LeCesne. He is of African American descent. He attended Bates College in Lewiston, Maine where he played football and baseball and was a member of the class of 1970. He was a history major and wrote sports columns for the school newspaper, The Bates Student.
CareerEarly careerGumbel began his television career in October 1972, when he was named a sportscaster for KNBC-TV out of Los Angeles. NBC SportsImage:1980 World Series Trophy Presentation Ceremony.JPG Bryant Gumbel interviews Commissioner Bowie Kuhn following the Philadelphia Phillies' Game 6 victory in the 1980 World Series. Gumbel impressed and surprised NBC with his likable on-air presence and well-spoken commentary He was hired by NBC Sports in the fall of 1975 as co-host of its National Football League pre-game show GrandStand with Jack Buck. From 1975 until January 1982 (when Gumbel left to do The Today Show) Gumbel hosted numerous sporting events for NBC including of Major League Baseball, NCAA basketball, and the National Football League. Gumbel returned to sportscasting for NBC when he hosted the prime time coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics from Seoul and the PGA tour in 1990.
The Today ShowHe spent 15 years on The Today Show with three co-hosts: Jane Pauley, Deborah Norville and Katie Couric. His work on the Today Show earned him several Emmys and large group of fans. He is currently the second longest serving co-host of Today, serving 2 months less than Couric. The Early ShowAfter stepping down from the Today Show and Dateline NBC in 1997, Gumbel moved on to CBS, where he hosted various shows before becoming the co-host of the network's morning show The Early Show on November 1, 1999. Gumbel left The Early Show in 2002. Real Sports with Bryant GumbelGumbel has concentrated most of his energy recently on his duties as host of HBO's acclaimed investigative series Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (a show that he has hosted since 1995). HBO's web page claims that Real Sports has been described as "flat out TV's best sports program" by the Los Angeles Times.[1] Also according to HBO, Real Sports has earned 15 sports Emmys, and a 2006 Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Award for broadcast journalism, the first time in the award's history that it was given to a sports program.[2] The award was for a story called: The Sport of Sheikhs, an investigation into the exploitation of children as camel jockeys in the United Arab Emirates. The Weather ManGumbel made a cameo appearance opposite Nicolas Cage and Michael Caine in The Weather Man, a film directed by Gore Verbinski. In the film, Gumbel co-hosts a morning show entitled Hello America for which Cage's character, a depressed weatherman, auditions. The NFL NetworkIn April 2006, the NFL Network announced that Gumbel along with Cris Collinsworth and Dick Vermeil would call its new package of NFL games. This is despite the fact that Gumbel unlike his brother Greg, had never called play-by-play[3] for live sporting events before in his career.[4] Even before he called his first game for the network his status was brought into question after Gumbel stirred up controversy in his closing remarks on his HBO program on August 15, 2006, in which he criticized NFL Players Association head Gene Upshaw and outgoing NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue. Gumbel would later reconcile with the NFL and will retain his play-by-play job with the NFL Network.[5] ControversiesGumbel memoIn 1989, Gumbel wrote a memo to Today Show executive producer Marty Ryan, which was critical of other Today Show personalities. This memo was leaked to the press. In the memo, Gumbel commented that Willard Scott "holds the show hostage to his assortment of whims, wishes, birthdays and bad taste...This guy is killing us and no one's even trying to rein him in." He commented that Gene Shalit's movie reviews "are often late and his interviews aren't very good." There was enough negative backlash in regard to Gumbel's comments toward Scott, that Gumbel was shown making up with Scott on The Today Show. RemarksA CBS camera caught a disgusted Bryant Gumbel blurting out "What a fucking idiot" just after he wrapped up a hostile interview with Robert Knight of the Family Research Council (FRC). The incident occurred at about 7:15 a.m. ET Thursday, June 29, 2000 following Knight's appearance to defend the Boy Scout policy of excluding gays from being leaders. On the August 15, 2006 episode of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, Gumbel made the following remarks about former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue and Player Union president Gene Upshaw and directed these comments to new commissioner Roger Goodell.
"It's a lot like covering any story," he said. "You see what is front of you and you report on it."[citation needed] Awards
Reportedly, Gumbel has raised over $8 million for the United Negro College Fund. Trivia
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