Lester Holt Biography

Lester Holt is a well-known American news journalist. He works as an anchor of the weekend editions of Today Show and NBC Nightly News. He also works as an anchor for Dateline NBC. He filled in for suspended primary anchor Brian Williams as the interim weeknight NBC Nightly News anchor.

EARLY YEARS

Lester was born on March 8, 1959, in Marin Country, California, and the United States. Her birth name is Lester Don Holt, Jr. He was born to June DeRozario and Lester Holt. His maternal grandparents belong to Jamaican religion. His maternal grandfather was of half Indian descent and half English descent. He attended Cordova High School, Rancho Cordova, California and graduated from there in 1977. He also studied at California State University in Sacramento and did major in Government but did not graduate from there.

“My first on-air job was actually as a disc jockey at a Country and Western station. The only time I could land a full-time gig was if I was willing to report the news.” -Lester Holt

CAREER

He began his career in 1981 and worked for WCBS-TV in New York City. He spent his 19 years working with CBS. In 1982 he also worked on KNXT in Los Angeles as a reporter and weekend anchor. He then later returned to WCBS-TV as a weekend anchor and a reporter. He then moved to WBBM-TV in Chicago in 1986. He there worked as an anchor of the evening news and spent his 14 years working there. He has also reported around the world including Somalia, Haiti, Iraq, and Northern Ireland and have also worked as at the anchor desk. In 2000 he joined MSNBC. In 2003 he worked at NBC News. He became a substitute anchor for NBC Nightly News and Today. After the death of previous co-anchor David Bloom, he became a full-time co-anchor of Weekend Today. He also worked on MSNBC as a two-hour daily newscast until 2005.

He currently works for NBC’s Dateline as a host. He also has hosted a special for The History Channel. He also worked for NBC sports coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics as a sports desk reporter. He is also the host of Dateline on ID shown on the Investigation Discovery network. He also has narrated a documentary regarding the actual skulls on the Sci-Fi Channel in 2008. He was on a medical leave from August 6, 2013, to September 2, 2013. He undergoes knee replacement surgery. He announced taking a temporary leave of absence from anchoring the Nightly News on February 7, 2015. After three days of his announcement, he was announced to be suspended without pay for six months by NBC

He also made cameo appearances in films includes Primal Fear and The Fugitive. He also appeared on the television shows like Fate of Early Edition and the episode of the series Due South. He was also seen featuring in Making Music Magazine.

In 1990 he was awarded Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. He was also honored with Doctorate from Pepperdine University.

PERSONAL LIFE

He currently lives with his wife Carol in Manhattan. The couple together has two son’s named Stefan and Cameron. His son Stefan studied at Pepperdine University in Malibu and graduated from there in 2009. He regularly goes to Manhattan Church of Christ in New York.

• Anchor