'''Meredith Vieira''', (pron. IPA/ , vee-air-uh) (born December 30, 1953) is an American journalist, host of the syndicated game show ''Who Wants to be a Millionare'', and a former co-host on ''The View''. She is of Portuguese descent.

She is also the host of a cable biography series on American television (''Intimate Portrait'' on Lifetime), and co-host of ''The Today Show'' starting September 13th, 2006.

Early career

Meredith Vieira was born in East Providence, Rhode Island. She began her career in 1975 as a news announcer for WORC radio in Worcester, Massachusetts, after graduating ''magna cum laude'' from Tufts University. After working as a local reporter and anchor at WJAR-TV, she made her way to the newsroom at WCBS-TV, her eventual springboard to the network level.

Prior to her various hosting duties, she first came to national recognition as a CBS reporter based in its Chicago Bureau. She later became a correspondent for news-magazine shows such as ''West 57th'' and ''60 Minutes.'' Her final assignment at CBS was co-anchoring ''CBS Morning News.'' She moved to ABC initially as a correspondent for the news-magazine show ''Turning Point.'' Following its cancellation, she made the career switch when, as she recalls:

:''Once I realized I was a reporter who didn't want to report because it required a tremendous amount of travel, nobody was too interested in having me work for them. I had to reinvent myself.''

Hosting roles

Vieira was the moderator and co-host of ABC's ''The View'' since its debut in 1997. As moderator, she introduced the "Hot Topics," guided the conversations, and broke to the commercials. She began each live episode by saying "Hello! And welcome to ''The View,''" and signed off each episode by saying "Take a little time and enjoy the view!" She was known on the show to be open about her experiences and opinions, even on sex-related topics. Vieira stepped down from her position on ''The View'' on June 9 due to her signing with NBC's ''The Today Show''. Barbara Walters and her co-hosts on ''The View'' gave her a roast to commemorate her final appearance.

She also performs hosting duties for the US syndicated version of ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire'', which was a 2002 spin-off of the primetime version hosted by Regis Philbin. The daytime quiz is syndicated by ABC's sister division, Buena Vista Television. As of April 10, 2006, it is confirmed she will resume her hosting duties of ''Millionaire'' for the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 season, should the show be renewed. In 2005, Vieira won a Daytime Emmy Award for '''Outstanding Game Show Host'''.

Since 1999, she has hosted Lifetime's ''Intimate Portrait'', which covers the lives of women in art, entertainment, politics, business, science, journalism, and sports.

On April 6, 2006, Vieira accepted an offer to succeed Katie Couric as co-host of NBC's ''Today Show'' starting on September 13, 2006. Couric announced on April 5, that she would be stepping down as the co-anchor of ''The Today Show'' on May 31 to begin serving as anchor of the ''CBS Evening News'' in September 2006. ''Broadcasting and Cable'' reported late that same day that Vieira had reached a deal with NBC in principle to join ''Today''. The following day, Vieira announced on ''The View'' that she would leave the show to co-host ''The Today Show''.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12185893/

Other activities

For the Special Edition 2-disc DVD of ''The Lion King 1 1/2'', Vieira "hosts" a game one can play on the second disc -- a spoof of ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'', called ''Who Wants to Be King of the Jungle?''. Timon the Meerkat was the contestant; Pumbaa was in the audience and was one of the animals you could select in the "Phone an Animal" lifeline.

She is also the spokesperson on Bayer commercials.

Vieira is also the host of the DVD series of ''Desperate Housewives''. Vieira interviewed cast members and the show creators in California, at which time she signed a secrecy agreement to allow her to know the script secrets.

Family

Her parents are Mary Elsie Vieira and Edwin Vieira.

She has been married to journalist and Columbia University Journalism Professor Richard Cohen since 14 July 1986. They have 3 children: Benjamin Edwin Cohen (1989), Gabriel Anthony Cohen (1991),and Lily Max Cohen (1993). All three children attend the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in Bronx, NY. The family currently resides in Westchester County. Cohen has had multiple sclerosis since he was 25 years old. MS runs in the Cohen family, as Cohen's father Dr. Ben Cohen and grandmother had MS. Recently Cohen had two colon-cancer surgeries.

Controversy

In 1988, Vieira sparked a controversy when she posed for ''Esquire'' magazine with a pink taffeta skirt hiked up. Many women in the industry were outraged, but Vieira was undeterred. "I am a journalist, and I take that very seriously," explained Vieira at the time. "But I don't think being serious means that you can't show different facets of yourself. This was for fun. That's the spirit in which I took it, and the spirit in which I wish anybody else would take it." .
In 1989 Vieira joined ''60 Minutes'' after giving birth to her first child. Don Hewitt, executive producer of ''60 Minutes'', allowed her to work part-time for two seasons so she could care for her child. After that, she would work full-time. But after two years, she became pregnant again and asked to continue the part-time arrangement. Don Hewitt declined her request, deciding instead to hire someone who would work full-time. Her departure from the show garnered headlines, as a national debate started to take place about whether women could balance both family and career. For her part, Vieira has told her side of the story in the book ''Divided Lives: The Public and Private Struggles of Three American Women'' by Elsa Walsh. .

Trivia

*She admitted on the air that she doesn't wear underwear because she wears pantyhose and underwear does the same thing.
*Was a celebrity guest on the Regis Philbin-hosted version of ''Who Wants to be a Millionaire'' before she hosted the syndicated version.
*She is of Portuguese descent.
*She is allergic to metal, and, therefore, doesn't wear her wedding ring.
*She has a strong fear of bridges, a condition also known as gephyrophobia.
*NBC will be the third major network she has been a part of. She started with CBS and moved over to ABC.
*She has won seven Emmy Awards for her work on ''West 57th'', ''60 Minutes'', ''Turning Point'' and ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?''
*She has turned down past opportunities to co-host ''The Early Show'' on CBS, and ABC's ''Good Morning America''.

References

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External links

*Meredith & Richard Interview with ABC7Chicago
*Meredith Vieira profile at NNDB

For more information about Meredith Vieira, please visit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meredith_Vieira

Biography courtesy of the brilliant Wikipedia!