Matt Lauer life and biography

Matt Lauer is an American television journalist best known as the host of NBC's The Today Show since 1997. He was previously a news anchor in New York and a local talk-show host in Boston, Philadelphia, Providence and Richmond. He was also host of PM Magazine (or "Evening Magazine" 1980-1986) and worked for ESPN in the 1980s as a sideline reporter. In the early 1990s, Lauer hosted segments of HBO Entertainment News.

He was born in New York, New York, the son of Marilyn Kolmer, a boutique owner, and Jay Robert Lauer, a bicycle-company executive. Lauer is of Romanian descent on his father's side, as seen on the Today Show's "Finding Our Roots." His parents divorced during his youth, and his father died in 1997. Lauer had become co-host of The Today Show replacing longtime host Bryant Gumbel in early 1997, not long before his father's death. In 1999, both Lauer and his cohost Katie Couric initially resisted participation in Today's proposed series about their family roots. The series turned out to be a hit, and Lauer was moved by what he learned about his immigrant ancestors. "My dad was Jewish. My mom is not. So I was not raised anything. I do feel a desire now to find something spiritual. Getting married and wanting to have kids has something to do with that."

Lauer began his television career in 1979 as a producer of the 12 o'clock news for WOWK-TV in Huntington, West Virginia. By 1980, he had become an on-air reporter on the 6 and 11 o'clock newscasts. He then moved around hosting a number of weekly information and talk programs in Boston, MA, Philadelphia, Providence, RI and Richmond, VA.

Lauer got his first job in the New York area when he was tapped to host a three-hour live interview program, 9 Broadcast Plaza, from 1989-1991. He moved to WNBC-TV in 1992, where he became co-anchor on the early weekday news show Today in New York, alongside Jane Hanson. Lauer filled in as the newsreader on The Today Show for Margaret Larson when needed. This led to his joining the show full-time in January 1994 as news anchor. At The Today Show, Lauer stepped in for Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric when required before being named the official co-anchor on January 6, 1997, after Gumbel stepped down.

Lauer has also co-hosted the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games. He has broadcast with Bob Costas the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer and 2010 Winter Olympics, carrying what his former co-host Katie Couric had done since the 2000 Summer Olympics.

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