Jim Lampley | |
|---|---|
 Lampley (right) in New York in 2010 | |
| Born | (1949-04-08)April 8, 1949 (age 76) |
| Alma mater | University of North Carolina |
| Occupation | Televisionjournalist |
| Notable credit(s) | HBO World Championship Boxing anchor and co-host (1988–2018) Olympic Games reporter and anchor (1984–2008) |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 4 |
James Lampley (born April 8, 1949) is an Americansportscaster,news anchor,film producer, and restaurant owner. He is best known as a blow-by-blow announcer onHBO World Championship Boxing for 30 years. He covered a record 14Olympic Games on U.S. television, most recently the2008 Summer Olympics inBeijing, China.
Lampley was born inHendersonville, North Carolina, and after the sixth grade was raised inMiami, Florida.[1] His father died when he was five, and his mother immersed him in sports to make up for what she felt his father would have done.[2] In 1971, he graduated from theUniversity of North Carolina where he majored in English and earned a master’s degree from UNC’s Department of Radio, Television and Motion Pictures.[3]
In 1974, while in graduate school, he was chosen along with Don Tollefson in whatABC called atalent hunt. ABC executives thought that Lampley's youthful looks would make him endearing to the college crowds they looked to attract for theircollege football games. At ABC, he covered such events asMajor League Baseball andcollege basketball games, the1986 and1987 Indianapolis 500, the 1977Monon Bell game betweenDePauw University andWabash College, fiveOlympics, as well as the programWide World of Sports.
From 1983 to 1985, he was the studio host of ABC broadcasts of theUnited States Football League (USFL), a spring league that featured stars such asHerschel Walker,Jim Kelly,Steve Young andReggie White.
On July 4, 1984, withSam Posey alongside, he called theNASCARFirecracker 400, and interviewedPresidentRonald Reagan during the winner's interview with race winnerRichard Petty.
In 1985, Lampley along withAl Michaels served as anchors for ABC's coverage ofSuper Bowl XIX, the first Super Bowl that ABC televised. After the game, Lampley presided over the presentation ceremony for thetrophy.
In 1987, Lampley moved to CBS. At CBS, he took over duties as co-anchor on the daily news show inLos Angeles, and also was a correspondent. That same year, he began working forHBO, coveringboxing and HBO's annual telecast of theWimbledon Championships. He also attended theAlbertville Olympics in 1992, as a news anchor forKCBS-TV.
In 1992, Lampley moved toNBC, where he helped cover the1992 Barcelona Olympics,1993 Ryder Cup,1994Grand Prix of Toronto, and the1996 Atlanta Olympics. In1993, Lampley took over studio hosting duties forBob Costas onTheNFL on NBC. Lampley moved to play-by-play duties for NBC's NFL telecasts the following year and was later replaced byGreg Gumbel. While withNFL on NBC, he was slated to joinJim Laslavic as the #8 announcing team in1997 during Week 9'sTennessee Oilers-Arizona Cardinals game; however, he was not placed in the lineup at all. In 1995, he began working at theReal Sports with Bryant Gumbel HBO series. In 1998, he covered theNagano Olympics and theGoodwill Games forTurner, and in 2000, he covered theSydney Olympics, again for NBC.
In 2004, Lampley was the daytime anchor for NBC's Olympics coverage for the2004 Summer Olympics, as well as anchoring theUSA Network's coverage of the Games. In 2006, Lampley served as a central correspondent for the2006 Winter Olympics which aired on the networks ofNBC Universal. Torino 2006 was the 13th Olympics Lampley covered, surpassing the record set by America's original voice of the Olympics,Jim McKay. Lampley was again called upon to anchor for the2008 Summer Olympics inBeijing, China, Lampley's 14th Games. The2010 Winter Olympics was the first time since the1980 Summer Olympics that he didn't cover.Al Michaels served as the daytime host of the 2010 Olympics on NBC. Lampley also did not cover the2012 Summer Olympics either in which Michaels also served as the daytime host.
Fans may best know Lampley for his work onHBO World Championship Boxing,Boxing After Dark, and on the HBOpay-per-view telecasts from March 1988 until December 2018, when HBO announced that they would drop the boxing program. As blow by blow announcer, he called some of boxing's most famous moments, such asThunder Meets Lightning, whenJulio César Chávez saved himself from a decision defeat by knocking outMeldrick Taylor (who was leading the fight on two of the three official scorecards) with only two seconds to go in the last round, andJames "Buster" Douglas's upset ofMike Tyson for the world heavyweight championship. Other highlights in his career were the firstRiddick Bowe-Andrew Golota fight atMadison Square Garden, where a riot occurred following the "Foul Pole's" disqualification for low blows, and the famous "It happened...IT HAPPENED!" call of George Foreman's miracle comeback against then heavyweight champion Michael Moorer when a straight right ended Moorer's reign.
Lampley also hosted a series calledLegendary Nights in 12 installments in honor of HBO's three decades covering boxing in 2004, recounting 12 memorable fights broadcast on HBO in that timespan.
Lampley later wrote, hosted, and executive produced his own studio boxing news show,The Fight Game with Jim Lampley on HBO.
Lampley was the first program host on New York'ssports talk radio stationWFAN when it began operation on July 1, 1987.
In 1992, he won theSam Taub Award for excellence in boxing broadcasting journalism.[5]
For his participation in theReal Sports with Bryant Gumbel HBO series, Lampley earned threeEmmy awards.[clarification needed][citation needed]
Lampley was inducted into theInternational Boxing Hall of Fame in its 2015 class.[6]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | The Other Dream Team | Himself | Documentary about theLithuania men's national basketball team at the1992 Summer Olympics. | [7] |
Lampley's movie production company,Crystal Spring Productions, has produced a handful of movies, including2000'sWelcome to Hollywood. The company, now known as Atticus Entertainment was executive producer of the HBO documentary series,On Freddie Roach in 2012–13. Since 2012, it has produced the continuing series,The Fight Game with Jim Lampley.
In addition to several minor credits as an announcer in films, Lampley portrayed himself in the movies likeRocky Balboa,Southpaw,Creed,Grudge Match, all in all more than a dozen feature film credits. He also appeared in the 2007 sports comedy filmsBlades of Glory starringWill Ferrell andJon Heder, andBalls of Fury, withChristopher Walken. Lampley also appeared on television in shows such asEverybody Hates Chris,MacGyver, theAndy SambergHBOmockumentary7 Days in Hell, andEastbound & Down.
Lampley was married to former news anchorBree Walker from 1990 to 1999.[8] The pair had a son, Aaron James Lampley, born in August 1991.[9]
Lampley and his current wife, Debra, live inChapel Hill, North Carolina.[10] Their blended family includes five daughters, two sons and nine grandchildren. Lampley is the former owner of two restaurants inUtah, both of which were named theLakota Restaurant and Bar.
One of his daughters is Brooke Lampley, Global Chairman and Head of Global Fine Art atSotheby's.[11][12]
In 2007, Lampley was arrested for suspicion of domestic violence over an incident that took place at his girlfriend's home.[13] He later pleaded no contest to violating a restraining order and was sentenced to three years of probation, plus required to complete a 52-week domestic violence counseling program.[14]
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