Deborah Norville Biography

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Deborah Norville (born August 8, 1958) is an American television anchor and journalist. Since 1995 she has been host of the syndicated American television program Inside Edition. She earlier hosted Today on NBC, substitute-anchored both the NBC Nightly News and the weekend CBS Evening News, and was a host and correspondent for two CBS News magazine programs.

She has received two Emmy Awards for her television work, the first while at NBC News for coverage of a democratic uprising in Romania, and the second for work on CBS's 48 Hours covering floods on the Mississippi River.

Early life

Norville was born in Dalton, Georgia. She graduated from the University of Georgia in Athens with a degree in journalism.

Career

NBC years

After serving as a reporter and an anchor for local television stations first in Atlanta and then Chicago, in 1987, Norville, at age 28, was named anchor of NBC News at Sunrise, the network's early morning newscast, which aired just prior to the Today program. Throughout the late 1980s she was seen on Today as a regular substitute for host Bryant Gumbel, co-host Jane Pauley, or news anchor John Palmer.

On September 5, 1989, Norville replaced Palmer at the Today newsdesk and he assumed her previous role on Sunrise. She also began substituting for Tom Brokaw on NBC Nightly News. Shortly after Norville's appointment as Today's news anchor, the decision was made to feature Norville as an unofficial third host. Whereas Palmer had read the news from a desk separate from where Gumbel and Pauley sat, Norville was seated alongside the program's hosts at the opening and closing of every show.

As co-host of Today

On October 27, 1989, Jane Pauley announced after thirteen years on Today that she would be leaving the program at the end of the year to pursue a prime time news assignment"?which would debut on July 17, 1990 as Real Life with Jane Pauley. NBC announced that Norville would become co-host. In January 1990, the new anchor team of Bryant Gumbel and Deborah Norville, minus Pauley, debuted with disastrous results. Ratings for the program began to plummet. Critics felt that Gumbel and Norville lacked chemistry and many loyal viewers began turning to rival ABC's Good Morning America.

By June 1990, NBC announced that Joe Garagiola, former Major League Baseball player and Today contributor from 1967"1973, would join Norville as a second co-host alongside Bryant Gumbel. Also, CBS newswoman Faith Daniels would become the program's news anchor"?a position which was still unfilled since Norville became co-host. Finally, Katie Couric assumed the role of National Correspondent. Garagiola, Daniels and Couric were added to the show during the June 11, 1990 broadcast.

Ratings continued to decline and by the end of 1990, Today, the longtime dominant morning news/talk program, was in second place behind GMA. By the outbreak of the Gulf War in 1991, Norville's role as co-host was gradually minimized. Today aired special editions of the program called America at War, with Gumbel anchoring most of the show alone. Norville left the show for maternity leave in February 1991. It was announced that Katie Couric would substitute as co-host during Norville's absence. Ratings for the program began to rise. By April 1991, it was announced that Norville would not return to Today and that Couric had been named the program's co-host. Norville, it was disclosed, would continue to be paid in accordance with her contract, although she would no longer appear on any NBC News programs.

Radio

Sally Jessy Raphael had asked to be released from her contract with the ABC Radio Network in late 1991. Deborah Norville was hired to replace her with a radio show called "Deborah Norville - From Her Home To Yours" which launched in September 1992. The program was cancelled after one year.

Return to television

In late 1993, Norville was hired by CBS News as a correspondent for Street Stories, a prime time newsmagazine hosted by CBS veteran Ed Bradley. Norville was later tapped to anchor Sunday editions of the CBS Evening News on a rotating basis and also substitute anchored on the weeknight edition of that program. By the summer of 1994, Street Stories had been cancelled and CBS introduced a summer newsmagazine series called America Tonight co-anchored by Norville and newswoman Dana King.

In 1995, Norville, still a news correspondent for CBS, was hired to replace Bill O'Reilly, later of Fox News Channel, as the host of the highly popular syndicated news and entertainment program Inside Edition, a position she still holds today.

In 2004, MSNBC announced that Norville would anchor a prime time interview program on that network while remaining at Inside Edition. An arrangement was orchestrated in which Norville was prevented from appearing as an anchor for NBC News"?of which MSNBC is a division"?so as not to confuse viewers who identified her with Inside Edition. As a result, if breaking news had developed either during the course of her show or earlier in the day, she was unable to cover the story by speaking with NBC correspondents unless they were featured as guests on the program.

While at MSNBC in late March 2004, Norville presented as genuine a satirical article entitled "Study: 58 Percent Of U.S. Exercise Televised" from The Onion, a parody newspaper.

Norville conducted some high profile interviews on the show"?including one with her successor on Today, Katie Couric"?and also addressed some controversial topics including the debate revolving around Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ and Mormon polygamy. During one of the broadcasts on the Passion controversy, Norville disclosed on the air that she was a born-again Christian, having accepted Christ as her savior at age 15. Though Norville's religious identity had been reported previously, it was the first time she had ever made such an announcement on live television. By February 2005, Norville announced she would leave MSNBC while continuing to anchor the syndicated Inside Edition.

On November 14, 2008, Deborah Norville was on the Fox game show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? Norville was eliminated at the $100,000 level, stating, "I may be an Emmy Award winning journalist, and a best selling author, but I am not smarter than a 5th grader."

Norville is the host of the online talk show, New Way RA, to help raise awareness about rheumatoid arthritis, a disease which contributed to her mother's death.

On April 19 and April 20, 2011, she filled in for Nancy Grace on the latter's HLN program.

Music

In 2001, Norville recorded and released an original song titled "Keep On Moving". The track's lyrics were inspired by her ouster as a co-host on the Today show.

Personal life

In her college years at University of Georgia, Norville was a member of Delta Delta Delta Women's Fraternity, Alpha Rho Chapter.

Norville married Swedish businessman Karl Wellner in 1987; the couple has three children, Niki, Kyle, and Mikaela. She also has created a line of craft yarns.

Published work

Published works include:

• Thank You Power : Making the Science of Gratitude Work for You, 2007
• The Power of Respect: Benefit from the Most Forgotten Element of Success, 2009
• Knit with Deborah Norville, 2009
• Back on Track: How to Straighten Out Your Life When It Throws You a Curve, 1997
• She has also written two children's books, I Don't Want to Sleep Tonight (Golden Books, 1999) and I Can Fly (Golden Books, 2001).