Bryant Gumbel | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Gumbel in 2013 | |
| Born | Bryant Charles Gumbel (1948-09-29)September 29, 1948 (age 77) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Bates College |
| Occupations | Television personality, sportscaster |
| Years active | 1972–present |
| Notable credit(s) | The Today Show The Early Show Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Greg Gumbel (brother) |
Bryant Charles Gumbel (born September 29, 1948) is a retired Americantelevision journalist andsportscaster. He was best known for his 15 years as co-host ofNBC'sToday. His older brother was sportscasterGreg Gumbel.[1] From 1995 to 2023, he hostedHBO's acclaimed investigative seriesReal Sports with Bryant Gumbel, which has been rated as "flat out TV's best sports program" by theLos Angeles Times.[2] It won aPeabody Award in 2012.[3]
Gumbel was hired byNBC Sports in the fall of 1975 as co-host of itsNational Football League pre-game showGrandStand withJack Buck. From 1975 until January 1982 (when he left to doThe Today Show), he hosted numerous sporting events for NBC includingMajor League Baseball,college basketball and theNational Football League. He returned to sportscasting for NBC when he hosted the prime timecoverage of the1988 Summer Olympics fromSeoul and thePGA Tour in 1990.
NBC News made Gumbel the principal anchor ofToday beginning September 27, 1982, and broadcast fromVietnam,Vatican City,Europe,South America, and much of theUnited States between 1984 and 1989. Gumbel's work onToday earned him severalEmmys and a large fanbase. He is the third longest serving co-host ofToday, after former hostsMatt Lauer andKatie Couric. He left the show on January 3, 1997, after 15 years.
Gumbel moved toCBS, where he hosted various shows before becoming co-host of the network's morning showThe Early Show on November 1, 1999. Gumbel was hostingThe Early Show on the morning of September 11, 2001. He was the first to announce theSeptember 11 attacks to CBS viewers. Gumbel left CBS andThe Early Show on May 17, 2002.
Gumbel was born inNew Orleans,Louisiana, to Rhea Alice (née LeCesne), a city clerk; and Richard Dunbar Gumbel, a judge.[4] Gumbel's paternal great-great-grandfather was aGerman-Jewish emigrant from the village ofAlbisheim.[5] RaisedCatholic,[6] he attended and graduated fromDe La Salle Institute inChicago, while growing up on the South Side of the city; his family had moved north when he was a child. He graduated fromBates College in 1970 with a degree in Russian history. He was one of four siblings, including two sisters and an older brother,Greg Gumbel, who also became a nationally recognized sports broadcaster.[7][8]
In 1971, he became editor ofBlack Sports, leaving the following year.[9][10][11] He began his television career in October 1972, when he was made a sportscaster forKNBC-TV inLos Angeles.
Already a local evening news sports anchor for KNBC (a Los Angeles television station owned and operated by NBC), Gumbel began appearing onNBC Sports telecasts in the fall of 1975, as co-host of itsNational Football League pre-game showGrandStand withJack Buck. From 1975 until January 1982 (when he left to doThe Today Show), he hosted numerous sporting events for NBC includingMajor League Baseball,college basketball and theNational Football League. He returned to sportscasting for NBC when he hosted the prime timecoverage of the1988 Summer Olympics fromSeoul and thePGA Tour in 1990.
One of Gumbel's more memorable moments during his time at NBC Sports occurred when he was on-site for the "Epic in Miami" NFL playoff game between theSan Diego Chargers andMiami Dolphins. At the end of the game, he told the viewers, "If you didn't like this football game then you don't like football!" This would be one of his final assignments for NBC Sports, as he began co-hostingToday two days later.
Gumbel began his affiliation withToday as the program's chief sports reporter contributing twice-weekly features to the program, including a regular series entitled "Sportsman of the Week," featuring up-and-coming athletes. In June 1981, NBC announced thatTom Brokaw would departToday to anchor theNBC Nightly News withRoger Mudd beginning in the spring of 1982. The search for Brokaw's replacement was on, and the initial candidates were all NBC News correspondents, includingJohn Palmer,Chris Wallace,Bob Kur,Bob Jamieson, andJessica Savitch. The candidates auditioned for Brokaw's job throughout the summer of 1981 when he was on vacation. Gumbel became a candidate for the job just by chance when he served as a last-minute substitute forToday co-anchorJane Pauley in August 1981. He so impressed executive producer Steve Friedman and other NBC executives that he quickly became a top contender for theToday anchor position. While Friedman and other NBC executives favored Gumbel as Brokaw's replacement, another contingent within the NBC News division felt strongly that he should be replaced by a fellow news correspondent, not a sports reporter. Wallace was the favored candidate of then-NBC News president Bill Small. NBC News decided to split the difference, selecting Gumbel as the program's anchor and Wallace as the Washington-based anchor. Pauley would remain co-anchor in New York. Brokaw signed off ofToday on December 18, 1981, and Gumbel replaced him on January 4, 1982. Gumbel and Brokaw had previously worked together on KNBC's 6:00 p.m. newscast in the mid-1970s, with Brokaw as anchor and Gumbel on sports.
The Gumbel–Pauley–Wallace arrangement, known internally as the "Mod Squad", lasted only nine months. It was an arrangement that proved intriguing on paper but unwieldy on television. Gumbel served as the show's traffic cop, opening and closing the program and conducting New York–based interviews, but Pauley and Wallace handled newsreading duties, and Wallace conducted all Washington-based hard news interviews. With ABC'sGood Morning America in first place and expanding its lead, NBC News made Gumbel the principal anchor ofToday beginning September 27, 1982, with Pauley as his co-anchor. Wallace became the chief White House correspondent coveringPresidentRonald Reagan, andJohn Palmer, previously a White House correspondent, becameToday's New York–based news anchor.
Gumbel and Pauley had a challenging first two years together asToday anchors as they sought to find a rhythm as a team.Good Morning America solidified its lead overToday in the ratings during the summer of 1983, and Pauley's departure for maternity leave sentToday into a ratings tailspin. But when she returned in February 1984, they began to work well together as a team. NBC tookToday on the road in the fall of '84, sending Gumbel to theSoviet Union for an unprecedented series of live broadcasts fromMoscow. He won plaudits for his performance, erasing any doubts about his hard-news capabilities. That trip began a whirlwind period of travel forToday. Remote broadcasts fromVietnam,Vatican City,Europe,South America, and much of theUnited States followed between 1984 and 1989.Today began to regain its old ratings dominance againstGood Morning America throughout 1985, and by early 1986, the NBC program was once again atop the ratings.
During this time, Gumbel had developed animosity towardDavid Letterman when theLate Night host disrupted taping of aToday primetime special inRockefeller Center with a bullhorn. "If I had gotten to him, I would have hit him," Gumbel said of Letterman. The pair would reconcile a few years later.[12][13]
In 1989, Gumbel, who was already known for his strong management style asToday anchor, wrote a memo to the executive producer Marty Ryan, on Ryan's request, critiquing the program and identifying its shortcomings. Many of his criticisms were directed at fellowToday staffers. It was leaked to the press. In the memo, Gumbel commented thatWillard Scott "holds the show hostage to his assortment of whims, wishes, birthdays and bad taste ... this guy is killing us and no one's even trying to rein him in". He commented thatGene Shalit's movie reviews "are often late and his interviews aren't very good."[14]
There was enough negative backlash in regard to Gumbel's comments toward Scott that he was shown making up with Scott onToday.[15]
Following Pauley's departure fromToday in December 1989, Gumbel was joined byDeborah Norville in a short-lived partnership that lasted just over a year.Today dropped to second place in the ratings during this period as a result of intensely negative publicity surrounding Norville's replacement of Pauley, and Gumbel's feud with Scott. Norville was replaced byKatie Couric in April 1991, and the Gumbel-Couric team helped refocusToday as the morning news program on public affairs during the 1992 presidential campaign. The program returned to first place in the ratings in December 1995.
Gumbel's work onToday earned him severalEmmys and a large group of fans. He is the third longest serving co-host ofToday, afterMatt Lauer and Couric. He stepped down from the show on January 3, 1997, after 15 years.
Since his departure, Gumbel has made occasional appearances onToday. He appeared for the show's 60th anniversary and hosted with Lauer and Pauley on December 30, 2013.[16]
After 15 years onToday, Gumbel moved to CBS to host a new prime time news-magazine calledPublic Eye with Bryant Gumbel during the 1997–1998 television season. The episode "The Reckoning" won aPeabody Award in 1998.[17] It lasted just one season before being cancelled. It aired on Wednesday nights at 9pm ET before moving to Tuesdays at 9pm ET.[18][19]
After the cancellation ofPublic Eye, Gumbel hosted various other CBS shows before becoming co-host of the network's morning showThe Early Show on November 1, 1999. Gumbel leftThe Early Show (and CBS that same year) on May 17, 2002. Gumbel was hostingThe Early Show on the morning of September 11, 2001. He was the first to announce theSeptember 11 attacks to CBS viewers.
In the spring and summer of 2010, he served as a special guest moderator of ABC'sThe View for multiple days.
ACBS camera caught a disgusted Gumbel blurting out, "What a fucking idiot," just after he had finished a hostile interview with Robert Knight of theFamily Research Council (FRC). The incident occurred at about 7:15 a.m. ET on Thursday, June 29, 2000, following Knight's appearance to defend theBoy Scout policy of excludinggays from being leaders. TheMedia Research Center reported that he uttered those words; Gumbel openly admitted to saying so when guest-hosting a June 2007 episode ofLive with Regis and Kelly.[20]
Gumbel has concentrated most of his energy recently on his duties as host ofHBO's acclaimed investigative seriesReal Sports with Bryant Gumbel (a show that he has hosted since 1995). HBO's web page claims thatReal Sports has been described as "flat out—TV's best sports program" by theLos Angeles Times.[21] It won aPeabody Award in 2012.[3]
In February 2006, Gumbel made remarks seen as controversial regarding the Winter Olympics and the lack of Black athlete participation, while others considered it important sports journalism commentary.[22]
So try not to laugh when someone says these are the world's greatest athletes, despite a paucity of Blacks that makes the Winter Games look like a GOP convention.
On the August 15, 2006, episode ofReal Sports with Bryant Gumbel, Gumbel made the following remarks about former NFL commissionerPaul Tagliabue and Players' Union presidentGene Upshaw and directed these comments to new commissionerRoger Goodell:
Before he cleans out his office, have Paul Tagliabue show you where he keeps Upshaw's leash. By making the docile head of the players' union his personal pet, your predecessor has kept the peace without giving players the kind of guarantees other pros take for granted. Try to make sure no one competent ever replaces Upshaw on your watch.
In response, Tagliabue said:
What Gumbel said about Gene Upshaw and our owners is about as irresponsible as anything I've heard in a long time.[23]
On the October 18, 2011, Gumbel evokedslavery in his criticism of NBA CommissionerDavid Stern over theleague's lockout.[citation needed]
His efforts are typical of a commissioner who has always seemed eager to be viewed as some kind of modern-day plantation overseer, treating (National Basketball Association) men as if they were his boys. ... His moves are intended to do little more than show how he's the one keeping the hired hands in their place.
In a Rolling Stone article dated January 20, 2015, Gumbel said: "There are a few things I hate more than theNRA. I mean truly. I think they're pigs. I think they don't care about human life. I think they are a curse upon the American landscape. So we got that on the record."[24]
Gumbel made a cameo appearance alongsideNicolas Cage andMichael Caine inThe Weather Man, afilm directed byGore Verbinski. In it, he cohosts a morning show entitledHello America, for which Cage's character, a depressed weatherman, auditions.
Gumbel made a cameo appearance on the NBC sitcomSeinfeld during which he interviewedJerry Seinfeld onToday while Jerry was wearing the puffy pirate shirt in the episode "The Puffy Shirt".
Gumbel made a cameo appearance on the sitcomThe Nanny during which he gives Fran Fine an audition for a job in television in the episode "Fair Weather Fran".
In April 2006,NFL Network announced that Gumbel, along withCris Collinsworth andDick Vermeil, would comment on its new package of NFL games. Unlike his brother Greg, he had never calledplay-by-play for live sporting events in his career.[25][26] Before his first game commentary for the network, his status was brought into question after he stirred up controversy in his closing remarks on his HBO program on August 15, 2006, in which he criticizedNFL Players Association headGene Upshaw and outgoingNFL CommissionerPaul Tagliabue. He would later reconcile with the NFL and retained his play-by-play job with the NFL Network.[27] On December 29, 2007, he had a reunion of sorts as he called thePatriots-Giants game on the NFL Network, CBS, and NBC. This is the first three-network simulcast NFL game and, coincidentally, he has worked for all three networks during his career. He also had a strong affiliation withNFL Films.
Gumbel's performance was the subject of criticism over his entire run because of his voice and a perceived lack of knowledge about the game.[28] Gumbel stepped down as play-by-play announcer in April 2008, prior to the2008 NFL season. He would be replaced on the NFL Network telecasts byBob Papa, then the radio play-by-play announcer for theNew York Giants.
In 2015, Gumbel hosted the first ever live televised brain surgery during a two-hour National Geographic special. The two-hour event, titledBrain Surgery Live with Mental Floss, gave viewers an up-close look at an awake deep brain stimulation surgery. Filming took place via two handheld cameras as well as several robotic cameras with inputs directly in the doctors' surgical equipment, allowing viewers to see live images as the brain was being operated on in real time.[29]
Gumbel raised two children with his wife, June, inWaccabuc, north ofNew York City. In 2001, he divorced her to marry Hilary Quinlan.[30] Around 2002, he shed 55 pounds of weight in seven months.[31] In October 2009, he had surgery to remove a malignant tumor near one of his lungs.[citation needed]
On October 20, 2025, Gumbel was reportedly rushed to a hospital after suffering a medical emergency. A family member toldTMZ he was "okay".[32]
Media from Commons
Quotations from Wikiquote| Preceded by | Today Show host January 4, 1982 – January 3, 1997 withJane Pauley from 1982 to 1989 Deborah Norville from 1990 to 1991 andKatie Couric from 1991 to 1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | American television prime time anchor,Summer Olympic Games 1980 (withDick Enberg) 1988 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by First play-by-play commentator | Thursday Night Football play-by-play commentator 2006–07 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
