1. Matthew Todd Lauer is a former American television news personality, best known for his work with NBC News.
35 Facts About Matt Lauer
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In 1997, Lauer was moved from the news desk to the host's chair and was co-anchor of Today from 1997 to 2017.
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Matt Lauer was a frequent contributor to the evening news magazine Dateline NBC.
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Matt Lauer's father was of Romanian Jewish ancestry, as seen on the Today Shows Finding Our Roots.
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Matt Lauer earned his undergraduate degree from Ohio University at age 39 in 1997; he had studied at the school's Scripps College of Communication, School of Media Arts and Studies.
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Matt Lauer had dropped out of the same institution in the spring of 1979 to begin his television career, after he was hired as a producer of the noon newscast for WOWK-TV in Huntington, West Virginia.
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Matt Lauer then moved around the East Coast, hosting a number of daily information and talk programs.
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Matt Lauer was a co-host of PM Magazine in several cities, beginning in Richmond, then Providence, and then New York City.
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Matt Lauer then returned to local television, hosting programs in Philadelphia and Boston for a two-year period between 1987 and 1989, during which time he reported for ESPN and anchored entertainment news segments for HBO.
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In September 1989, Matt Lauer returned to New York City, this time to WWOR, and built his career and fame, where he hosted 9 Broadcast Plaza, a three-hour live interview program.
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In 1990, Matt Lauer was hired by the Kushner-Locke Company to host a pilot called Day in Court, executive-produced by veteran producer David Sams, who helped to launch The Oprah Winfrey Show into national syndication.
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In 1991, Matt Lauer appeared as the co-host of Etc.
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Matt Lauer joined NBC in 1992 when he became co-anchor of the early weekday news show Today in New York on the network's New York flagship station WNBC.
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Matt Lauer filled in as the newsreader on The Today Show for Margaret Larson when needed from 1992 to 1993.
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Matt Lauer stepped in for Scott Simon, Mike Schneider, Jack Ford and David Bloom as the co-host of Weekend Today, and for Ann Curry as anchor of the former NBC News program NBC News at Sunrise from 1992 to 1997.
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Matt Lauer had filled in for Tom Brokaw on NBC Nightly News.
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On some occasions, Matt Lauer conducted interviews that escalated into tense exchanges.
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On June 19,2007, Matt Lauer interviewed Prince William and Prince Harry on the tenth anniversary of the death of their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.
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Between 1998 and 2017, Matt Lauer co-hosted NBC's live coverage of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
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Matt Lauer co-hosted the opening ceremonies of several Olympic Games, carrying on what his former co-host Katie Couric had done since the 2000 Summer Olympics.
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Matt Lauer co-hosted the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics, the 2010 Winter Olympics, the 2012 Summer Olympics, the 2014 Winter Olympics, and the 2016 Summer Olympics.
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In November 2015, Matt Lauer hosted an interview with Charlie Sheen, during which Sheen revealed that he was HIV-positive.
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On September 8,2016, Matt Lauer conducted separate 30-minute interviews with presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, both of which were met with much criticism.
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Matt Lauer devoted much of the Clinton interview to questions about her e-mail server and, according to critics, appeared to rush through audience-led topics such as domestic terror attacks and veterans' affairs, implying that there was not enough time to cover these in detail.
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On November 30,2016, it was revealed that Matt Lauer had signed a new contract up to 2018.
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On January 6,2017, Matt Lauer celebrated his 20th anniversary on The Today Show with a look back at some of his most memorable moments on the show.
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In 2008, Matt Lauer was the subject of a roast by the New York Friars Club where several of his colleagues made jokes about his reputation for having relationships with his staff.
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Matt Lauer's contract had been scheduled to run through the end of 2018.
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Matt Lauer made several guest appearances on the NBC sitcom 30 rock created by Tina Fey.
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Matt Lauer hosted The Greatest American on the Discovery Channel, which used internet and telephone voting by viewers to select the winner.
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Matt Lauer was critical of his program since it tended to favor well-known figures over others who had less influence in pop culture.
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Matt Lauer served as the 2009 Class Day speaker at Harvard University's undergraduate commencement ceremonies on June 3,2009.
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Matt Lauer was married to television producer Nancy Alspaugh from 1982 to 1989.
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Matt Lauer later married Dutch model Annette Roque, whom he met on a blind date in July 1997.
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Matt Lauer proposed to Roque after five months of dating, and the two wed in Bridgehampton, New York on October 3,1998.