Robin Roberts Biography

Robin René Roberts (born November 23, 1960) is an American television broadcaster. Roberts is the anchor of ABC's morning show Good Morning America.

Early life

Roberts grew up in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where she played basketball and tennis, among other sports. She attended Pass Christian High School and graduated as the class of 1979 salutatorian. She is the daughter of Lucimarian Tolliver and Colonel Lawrence E. Roberts. In a 2006 presentation to the assembled student body at Abilene Christian University, Roberts credited her parents as cultivating the "three 'D's: Discipline, Determination, and 'De Lord'." She is the youngest of four, following siblings Sally-Ann, Lawrence, Jr. (nicknamed Butch), and Dorothy. Her father was a pilot with the Tuskegee Airmen.

Education

Roberts attended Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana, graduating cum laude in 1983 with a degree in communication. She followed in the footsteps of her older sister Sally-Ann Roberts, an anchor at the CBS affiliate WWL in New Orleans.

Roberts noted on the January 13, 2007, edition of Costas on the Radio that she was offered a scholarship to play basketball at Louisiana State University but thought the school was too big and impersonal after visiting the campus. On her way back to Pass Christian from that visit, she saw a road sign for Southeastern Louisiana University, stopped to visit and decided to enroll. The only scholarship left was a tennis scholarship, and she was promised that there would be a journalism scholarship by the time she would graduate. She went on to become a standout performer on the women's basketball team, ending her career as the school's third all-time leading scorer (1,446 points) and rebounder (1,034). She is one of the only three Lady Lions to score 1,000 career points and grab 1,000 career rebounds. During her senior season, she averaged a career-high 15.2 points per game. On February 5, 2011, Southeastern hosted a ceremony to retire Roberts' jersey 21.

Broadcasting career

Roberts began her career in 1983 as a sports anchor and reporter for WDAM-TV in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. In 1984, she moved to WLOX-TV in Biloxi, Mississippi. In 1986, she was sports anchor and reporter for WSMV-TV in Nashville, Tennessee. She was also a sports anchor and reporter at WAGA-TV in Atlanta, Georgia, from 1988 to 1990. She was also a radio host for radio station V-103 while in Atlanta.

ESPN and ABC News

She joined ESPN as a sportscaster in February 1990, where she stayed until 2005. She became well known on Sportscenter for her catchphrase, "Go on with your bad self!" Roberts began to work for ABC News, specifically as a featured reporter, for Good Morning America in June 1995.

In 2001, Roberts received the Mel Greenberg Media Award, presented by the WBCA. For many years, Roberts worked at both ESPN and Good Morning America, contributing to both programs. During that time, she served primarily as the news anchor at GMA. In 2005, Roberts was promoted to co-anchor of Good Morning America. In December 2009, Roberts was joined by George Stephanopoulos as co-anchor of GMA after Diane Sawyer left to anchor ABC World News. Under their partnership, the Roberts-Stephanopoulos team led Good Morning America back to the top of the ratings; the program became the number one morning show again in April 2012, beating NBC's Today, which had held the top spot for the last 16 years.

In the fall of 2005, Roberts anchored a series of emotional reports from the Mississippi Gulf Coast after it was devastated by Hurricane Katrina; her hometown of Pass Christian was especially hard hit, with her old high school completely reduced to rubble.

On February 22, 2009, Roberts hosted the Academy Awards preshow for ABC, and did so again in 2011.

Roberts has earned three Emmy Awards for her sportscasting work at ESPN.

In 2010, Roberts guest starred on Disney Channel's Hannah Montana, appearing in season 4, episode 10, "Can You See the Real Me?". Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus) is interviewed by Roberts after revealing she is Hannah Montana. Miley discusses her double life and relives some of her most memorable moments about her friends, her family, her dating life, and how she was able to manage two lives.

On May 30, 2010, Roberts drove the Pace Car for the 2010 Indianapolis 500.

Roberts is inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the hall's class of 2012 for her contributions to and impact on the game of women's basketball through her broadcasting work and play.

ESPN awarded its Arthur Ashe Courage Award to Robin Roberts at the 2013 ESPYs.

Personal life

In 2007 Roberts was diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer. She underwent surgery on August 3, and by January 2008 had completed eight chemotherapy treatments, followed by 6 weeks of radiation treatment.

In 2012 she was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Be the Match Registry, a nonprofit organization run by the National Marrow Donor Program, experienced a 1,800% spike in donors the day Roberts went public with her illness. She took a leave from GMA to get a bone marrow transplant, and went home in October 2012. She returned to GMA on February 20, 2013.