Joan Lunden
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Joan Lunden (born September 19, 1950) is an American broadcaster, most recently the host of the CBS reality series "Wickedly Perfect," and prior was a popular co-host of ABC's Good Morning America from 1980 through 1997. As the longest running morning news host, Lunden became one of the most visible women in the country. She joined "GMA" in the fall of 1976 as a feature news/consumer reporter, and later became fill in co-host as former co-host Sandy Hill left to work on coverage of the Winter Olympics. Lunden's popularity with viewers led her to her quick promotion to co-host with David Hartman, the program's original host. Entertainment Weekly magazine national viewer poll named her "television's favorite morning anchor," during her years at "Good Morning America."
Her popularity on the Good Morning America program from the 70's through the 90's allowed her to interview President and First Ladies Gerald and Betty Ford, Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter, Ronald and Nancy Reagan, George and Barbara Bush, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and also Texas Governor and First Lady Bush, prior to the younger Bush's 2000 election as President.
She was a host on the A&E cable network program Behind Closed Doors (originally aired on ABC as occasional prime time specials) (1996-2001) which was an on-location / undercover reporter program; and also frequently guest hosted Biography on Cable TV's A&E Channel.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Lunden was born in California as Joan Blunden. She is Jewish, [1], and also reported being raised Seventh-day Adventist [2] Lunden has a liberal arts degree from Sacramento State, where she was initiated as a member of the Greek sorority Delta Gamma. She also studied Spanish and anthropology at Mexico City's Universidad de Las Americas. She was a visiting instructor at Montclair State College in New Jersey, where she taught a course in broadcast journalism
She began her broadcasting career in Sacramento, California, where she worked for KCRA-TV and Radio as co-anchor of the daily noon television news program. She also produced the noon news broadcast and hosted KCRA's television specials.
[edit] Career
In 1975, Lunden joined New York's WABC-TV Eyewitness News and a year later became co-anchor on the weekend newscasts. As the co-host of GMA, Lunden traveled the world, covering historic events, such as the 50th anniversary of VE Day (Victory in Europe) in 1995; the 50th anniversary of D-Day; the 1984 and 1988 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo and Calgary; and the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. She covered the administrations and inaugurations of three Presidents: Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan. She was one of only three American journalists to interview Prince Charles during his 1983 visit to the United States.
Lunden was known for her willingness to take risks in her role as host. She climbed and rappelled Alaska's famed Mendenhall Glacier and bungee-jumped off a 143-foot bridge and parapented off a 2,000-foot mountain during the program's highly rated trip to New Zealand. She also navigated the whitewater rapids of a Georgia river for a GMA show in 1994. She has been at the controls of an F-18 jet and soared with the United States Air Force Thunderbirds, as well as flown in a T-34 Naval flight training plane. She is also a skilled horsewoman, jumping thoroughbred horses, and also has gone to bat with the Chicago Cubs at spring training.
[edit] Activities and honors
Lunden also hosted ABC's broadcast of the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, from 1989 to 1991.
She hosted the Walt Disney World Easter Parade with Regis Philbin until the mid-90s.
She has received numerous honors including the Spirit of Achievement Award from Albert Einstein College of Yeshiva University, YWCA Outstanding Woman's Award Speaker, National Women's Political Caucus Award, New Jersey Division on Civil Rights Award and Baylor University Outstanding Woman of the Year. The National Mother's Day Committee selected her as the Outstanding Mother of the Year in 1982-83 for her dedication to motherhood. She has been a national spokesperson for MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving).
In April 1991, Lunden was honored by New York Women in Communications with a Matrix Award for her "outstanding contributions to the broadcasting field."
Lunden appeared as herself in a brief role in the 2006 film Thank You for Smoking.
[edit] Personal life
Lunden was married to Michael Krauss from 1978 until their divorce in 1992; the couple has 3 daughters: Jamie, 26; Lindsay, 23; and Sarah, 18. She married Jeff Konigsberg on April 18, 2000; they have 4 children, two sets of twins (each consisting of one boy and one girl, born in 2003 and 2005), both of which were delivered by Joan Lunden's surrogate mother, Deborah Bolig, in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Lunden sits on the Board of Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
[edit] References
| Preceded by Sandy Hill as David Hartman's co-host from 1977 to 1980 |
Good Morning America co-host 1980–1997 with David Hartman from 1980 to 1987, and Charles Gibson from 1987 to May 23, 1997 |
Succeeded by Lisa McRee as Charles Gibson's co-host from 1997 to 1998 |
| Co-Anchors of Good Morning America |
|---|
| Hartman • Dussault • Hill • Lunden • McRee • Newman • Sawyer • Gibson • Roberts |
